Where the Paese surname comes from
Paese comes from the everyday Italian word for a village, the place where you live and everyone knows everyone. The word comes from late Latin pagensis, “inhabitant of the village.”
Scholars do not give a single explanation, and the origin remains debated. It may be a nickname for someone who came from a town or village, or the name of a place that is called exactly that. The PDF explains which of the two explanations may apply to your family.
Few in Italy, many across the ocean
The story of the surname passes through a mass departure. The PDF tells where the Paese families who left Italy ended up, and why there are more of them outside Italy than in it.
Where the Paese families live today
Paese is a rare surname: about 150 people carry it in Italy, scattered across a few regions. The somewhat larger group is in Calabria, in the Cosenza area. Other small groups live in Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio and Veneto. There are about 1,500 people named Paese in the world, and more than half live outside Italy. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the places around the world they reached.
Variants
The PDF records no widespread variants of Paese. The surname is rare and scattered, and the PDF explains why two distant families are not necessarily related.
FAQ
What does the surname Paese mean?
It comes from the word “paese,” meaning a village or hometown. It may have begun as a nickname for someone who came from a town or village, or from a place with that name.
Is Paese also the name of a town?
Yes, there is a town called Paese in the province of Treviso, in Veneto. Someone who left from there could carry the name of his hometown along. It is one of the two theories about the surname’s origin.
Is Paese a Calabrian surname?
The largest group in Italy is in Calabria, in the Cosenza area, with a special tie to Lappano. The surname is also found in a few families in Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio and Veneto.
Are all Paese families related?
No. Because it began as a common word, it may have appeared several times in different places with no link between the families. Since it is rare, though, anyone who carries it has a good chance of tracing back to a small local line.
Why are there so many Paese families in Brazil?
Because of the great Italian emigration of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Families left for southern Brazil, to Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina, and the surname multiplied there.
Is the Paese surname noble?
The surname itself is not a sign of nobility. It comes from a common word and was mostly carried by farmers, craftsmen and village families.
Is there a Paese family coat of arms?
The old heraldry books mention no coat of arms linked to the Paese surname. There is no coat of arms that belongs to all Paese families, because a coat of arms always belonged to one branch of a family.
