Where the Ricci surname comes from
Ricci comes from a nickname. In Italian dialects rizzo meant “curly,” and it was said of someone whose hair was frizzy and stood straight up on the head. It could also describe a prickly temperament, one that stung like a hedgehog (riccio in Italian).
The final -i is typical of central and northern Italy and points to the whole family: “the Riccio’s folks.” Scholars also point to a second road, a personal name from the Middle Ages. The PDF tells which one, and where it appears.
A name that reached China
In the 1500s a Ricci who set out from Macerata reached the court of the mandarins. There he changed his clothes, his language and even his name, and the Chinese still remember him today. The PDF tells how he did it, and what he brought with him from Europe.
Where the Riccis live today
Ricci is a surname of central and northern Italy. There are about 25,000 families in Italy, with their heart in Lazio, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. In Umbria it is among the region’s top surnames. The city where it is number one is Massa, in Tuscany. In the South the same nickname mostly took other forms. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
From the word for curly came one of the largest families of surnames in Italy, with a form for every part of the country. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Ricci | Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany |
| Rizzo | Sicily, Apulia, Veneto |
| Rizzi | Lombardy, Apulia, Veneto |
| Riccio | Campania, Lazio, Piedmont |
| Ricciotti | Marche, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna |
| Ricciuti | Abruzzo, Molise, Basilicata |
FAQ
What does the surname Ricci mean?
It comes from the nickname “il Riccio,” the curly one, given to someone with frizzy hair or a prickly temperament. Ricci, in the plural, points to his family: “the Riccio’s folks.”
Is Ricci a Tuscan surname?
It is strong in Tuscany, where Massa is the city in which it ranks number one. But it is found all over central and northern Italy, especially in Lazio and Emilia-Romagna, and it is among the top surnames in Umbria.
Are Ricci and Rizzo the same surname?
They have the same origin, the nickname for curly hair. Ricci is the form of central and northern Italy, Rizzo that of the South and of Veneto. In old records the same family may appear under different forms.
Are all Riccis related?
No. In thousands of towns there was someone with curly hair, and two Ricci families almost always have no ties. To rebuild your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Ricci surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t mean nobility. It comes from a popular nickname. There were noble Ricci families, for example in Lazio, but the great majority of Riccis never had titles.
Is there a Ricci family coat of arms?
Some noble Ricci families had their own coat of arms, tied to that specific branch. No single coat of arms belongs to every Ricci, because the surname was born in many different places.
Does the Ricci surname come from the animal?
Usually not: in most cases the nickname described the hair. In some cases, though, it could point to the small spiny animal itself, the hedgehog, perhaps for someone who hunted it.
