Where the Nasso surname comes from
Nasso is the Italian name for Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. The surname most likely means “the one who comes from Naxos”: the first Nassos would have come from Greece. For centuries Southern Italy was full of Greeks who came by sea and stayed. It is a surname of origin, and that is why it may have been born more than once.
Two islands and a myth
According to myth, a famous princess was abandoned on Naxos. But there was also a Naxos in Sicily, founded by Greek colonists more than 2,700 years ago. Both stories are in the PDF, along with that of a Nasso who left Calabria at eighteen.
Where the Nasso families live today
Nasso is a surname of Calabria. There are about 430 families in Italy, and they come mostly from the province of Reggio and the Plain of Gioia Tauro. In Polistena, at the foot of the Aspromonte, it is the town’s third most common surname. It reached Lazio, Piedmont, Tuscany and Liguria with Calabrian emigration in the 1900s. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The PDF records no common variants of Nasso.
FAQ
What does the surname Nasso mean?
“The one who comes from Nasso,” the Italian name for the Greek island of Naxos, in the Cyclades. The surname most likely indicates that the first Nassos came from Greece.
Is Nasso a Calabrian surname?
Yes. Nasso families come almost entirely from the province of Reggio Calabria, especially the Plain of Gioia Tauro. In Polistena it is the town’s third most common surname.
Does the Nasso surname come from Giardini Naxos?
Probably not. The Sicilian Naxos, the first Greek colony on the island, was destroyed in 403 BC, many centuries before surnames came into being. The Greek island remains the most likely theory.
Does the Italian saying “piantare in asso” come from Nasso?
According to a much-debated theory, yes: the story of Ariadne, abandoned on Naxos, would have given “piantare in Nasso,” later “piantare in asso,” meaning to leave someone in the lurch. Scholars disagree, so take it as a curiosity.
Are all Nassos related?
Not necessarily. A surname that tells where someone came from may have been born more than once, even though almost all the families come from the same area of Calabria. To trace your own family’s story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Nasso surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility: it tells where the first ancestor came from. Almost all Nasso families never had a coat of arms.
Is there a Nasso family coat of arms?
No single coat of arms belongs to every Nasso. A coat of arms belonged to one specific branch of a family. If a Nasso family from Polistena or Reggio had one, it was theirs.
