Where the Timpanaro surname comes from
Timpanaro comes from the timpano, the great drum played at festivals and processions. The word comes from the Greek týmpanon and the Latin tympanum. A Timpanaro was someone who played it, or who made it. That trade nickname, passed from father to son, became the family’s surname.
A name that gave Italy scholars
The surname was born from the rhythm of festivals, but it gave Italy one of its best-known families of scholars of the 1900s. The PDF tells who they are, and from which town in Sicily their story began.
Where the Timpanaros live today
Timpanaro is a Sicilian surname: about 1,300 people carry it in Italy. Its heartland is Catania and the Catania area, with other branches in the Enna and Messina areas. The town where it is among the most common surnames is Gagliano Castelferrato, in the province of Enna. The clusters in Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany and Emilia came with the emigration of the 1900s. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached.
Variants
Timpanaro has two cousin surnames born from the same root, common in other lands of the South. The PDF tells which ones.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Timpanaro | Sicily, especially the Catania area |
| Timpano | Calabria, then Lombardy and Lazio |
| Timpanelli | Sicily, Campania, Lazio |
FAQ
What does the surname Timpanaro mean?
“The timpani player.” It comes from timpano, the great festival drum: a Timpanaro was someone who played it in processions and village fairs, or who made it.
Is Timpanaro a Sicilian surname?
Yes. It has a single heartland, in Sicily: Catania and the Catania area, then the Enna and Messina areas. The clusters outside the island came from the emigration of the 1900s.
Are Timpanaro and Timpano the same surname?
They share the same root and the same meaning, but they are not the same family. Timpano has its heartland in Calabria, Timpanaro in Sicily.
How many Timpanaros are there?
In Italy about 1,300 people, worldwide about 2,400. These are estimates. Outside Italy they are almost all Sicilian families who left with the emigration.
Are all Timpanaros related?
No. Carrying the same surname does not mean being related. A famous family of scholars is a case apart: the real story of the surname is that of the many Timpanaro families of the Catania area and of Sicily.
Is the Timpanaro surname noble?
No. Born from a trade and not from a noble house, it carries no coat of arms. Its legacy is a name that tells of an old trade.
Is there a Timpanaro family coat of arms?
There is no coat of arms of the surname Timpanaro. A trade surname never had arms of its own, and the ones sold online are modern products.
Where do I look for my Timpanaro ancestors?
Start from your family’s exact town, in Sicily. Civil registration begins in 1820; before that, look in the parish registers kept after the Council of Trent in 1563.
