Where the Pagano surname comes from
Pagano comes from the Latin paganus, from pagus, the village. The paganus was someone who lived in the countryside, outside the city walls. The religious meaning of the word came only later.
In the Middle Ages Pagano was also an ordinary personal name, and the surname almost always comes from there: from the name of an ancestor. The PDF explains why so many people think otherwise.
A family, a town and a legend
In the Agro Nocerino there is a town called Pagani. The most widely accepted theory about its name leads straight to a Pagano family of the 1400s. And there is a legend that links the surname to the Templars of Jerusalem. The PDF tells how much of it is true, along with the jurist of 1799 and the big dockworker from the port of Genoa who became a movie star.
Where the Pagano families live today
Pagano is a surname found all over Italy, but its heart is in the South. There are about 8,800 families, concentrated in Campania, Sicily and Apulia. The town where it is the top surname is Frignano, in the province of Caserta. Almost two Paganos out of five live outside Italy. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
In the South the surname stayed whole; in the North it split into plurals, diminutives and shortened forms. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Pagano | Campania, Sicily, Apulia |
| Pagani | Lombardy |
| Paganelli | Emilia, Lombardy, Tuscany |
| Paganini | Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia |
| Pagan | Veneto |
FAQ
What does the surname Pagano mean?
It comes from the Latin paganus, “the man of the village”: someone who lived in the countryside, outside the walls. In the Middle Ages it was also a personal name, and that is almost always where the surname comes from.
Does the surname Pagano mean the family wasn’t Christian?
Almost certainly not. The religious meaning of the word came later. In the Middle Ages Pagano was an ordinary baptismal name: the Church even honors a Blessed Pagano of Lecco.
Is Pagano a surname from Campania or from Sicily?
Both, and from Apulia too. Its heart is Campania, home to Frignano, the town where it is the top surname. Right after come Sicily and Apulia.
Are Pagano and Pagani the same surname?
They share the same origin. Pagani is the plural form, “Pagano’s people,” typical of Lombardy. Paganelli, Paganini and Pagan belong to the same family too.
Are all Paganos related?
No. The surname comes from a personal name carried by many different families. To trace your own family’s story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Pagano surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility. Heraldic dictionaries record Pagano families in many cities, each with its own branch. Only documents can tell whether a family descends from one of them.
Is there a Pagano family coat of arms?
Heraldic archives record Pagano families in Naples, Messina, Rome, Saluzzo and many other cities, each with its own shield. No single coat of arms belongs to every Pagano.
