Where the Randazzo surname comes from
Randazzo is the name of a town: Randazzo, on the northern slope of Mount Etna. The first Randazzo was in all likelihood someone who came from there. Once he moved elsewhere, his neighbors called him “the one from Randazzo,” and the name passed to his children.
Where the town’s name comes from isn’t clear. There are several theories and none has been proven: the PDF lays them out one by one.
A medieval town below the volcano
For centuries three languages were spoken in Randazzo, one for each quarter, and each quarter had its own great church. Kings, queens and emperors stayed in its royal palace. The PDF tells how the quarrel between the three churches ended, and why the town still looks medieval.
Where the Randazzos live today
Randazzo is a typically Sicilian surname. There are about 3,900 families in Italy, with their center in the province of Palermo. The town where it is number one is San Cono, in the province of Catania. Outside Sicily, Randazzos live mostly in Lombardy and Piedmont, the regions of emigration in the 1900s. The map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
Randazzo has stayed almost always the same over the centuries and in the countries it reached. It has only one cousin, a very rare one.
FAQ
What does the surname Randazzo mean?
“The one who comes from Randazzo,” the town on the northern slope of Mount Etna. It is a place surname: it was born when someone left the town and moved elsewhere.
Is Randazzo a Sicilian surname?
Yes, typically Sicilian: it is the 26th most common surname on the island and the sixth in the province of Palermo. The families in Lombardy and Piedmont arrived with the emigration of the 1900s.
Why are there more Randazzos in Palermo than below Mount Etna?
A place surname is usually born far from its place. It served to set the newcomer apart: those who stayed in town had no need to be called Randazzo.
Are all Randazzos related?
No. Many different people, at different times, left Randazzo and took the town’s name. To rebuild your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Randazzo surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t mean nobility: it comes from the name of a town and anyone who came from there could take it. Only records can tell the story of a single family.
Is there a Randazzo family coat of arms?
No single coat of arms belongs to every Randazzo: each one belonged to one specific family. There is, however, the coat of arms of the town of Randazzo, which belongs to a place and not to a family line.
Are Randazzo and Randazzese the same surname?
They have the same origin, the town below Mount Etna. Randazzese is the surname’s only cousin and it is very rare: a handful of families between Sicily and Lombardy.
