Where the Ribaudo surname comes from
Ribaudo most likely comes from a nickname. In Sicilian, ribaudo means “ribald”: in the Middle Ages it was the soldier who feared no danger. He was the one given the riskiest tasks.
Over time the word changed its meaning, all the way to today’s bandit and scoundrel. Scholars also point to another road, one that leads to France and Provence. The origin is still debated, and the PDF tells both theories.
The Ribaudos’ town
There is a town in the Nebrodi mountains where Ribaudo is the top surname. People call it “the saddle of the Nebrodi,” and it is much older than you might imagine. The PDF tells its story, made of stone and great doorways.
Where the Ribaudos live today
Ribaudo is almost one hundred percent Sicilian. There are about 800 families in Italy, and nine out of ten live in Sicily, between the provinces of Palermo and Messina. The town where it is number one is Mistretta, in the province of Messina. Off the island it is found mostly in Lombardy and Piedmont, where many Sicilians emigrated in the 1900s. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
Outside Sicily the same word took a different form. The PDF explains how and why.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Ribaudo | Sicily, Lombardy, Piedmont |
| Ribaldi | Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy |
FAQ
What does the surname Ribaudo mean?
“The ribald.” In Sicilian, ribaudo meant the fearless soldier who was given the riskiest tasks. Only later did the word come to mean a bandit or a scoundrel.
Is Ribaudo a Sicilian surname?
Yes, almost one hundred percent: nine out of ten Italian Ribaudos live in Sicily, between the provinces of Palermo and Messina. The families in Lombardy and Piedmont arrived with the emigration of the 1900s.
Are Ribaudo and Ribaldi the same surname?
They probably come from the same word. Ribaldi has the Italian “l” and a final “i,” and is common mostly in Lazio and Emilia-Romagna. In Ribaudo the “l” became a “u,” as in many Sicilian words.
Are all Ribaudos related?
Not necessarily. The nickname could arise in more than one town, even though almost all the families come from the same part of Sicily. To rebuild your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Why are there so many Ribaudos in the United States?
During the great emigration many Sicilian families left for America. Today one Ribaudo in three lives in the United States: more than sixteen hundred people.
Is the Ribaudo surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t mean nobility. It comes from a nickname given to a brave soldier, not from a title.
Is there a Ribaudo family coat of arms?
No single coat of arms belongs to every Ribaudo. If a Ribaudo family of Palermo or Mistretta had a coat of arms, it belonged to that specific branch. Almost no Ribaudo family ever had one.
