Where the Trovato surname comes from
Trovato is a word every Italian knows: it means “found.” According to scholars, it was most likely the name that religious communities and hospices gave to the abandoned children they took in: the trovatelli, the foundlings.
A newborn left outside a convent or a hospital had no surname. Someone had to give him one, and the name often told his very story. From that child, in time, a whole family was born. It’s a story that deserves respect, and the PDF tells it in full.
A town, a proverb, a song
The surname is at home in a mountain town in the Nebrodi, which the Normans chose as their first capital in Sicily. The word also ended up in a proverb known all over the world, and in a voice many remember from the Sanremo Music Festival. The three stories are in the PDF.
Where the Trovatos live today
Trovato is an almost entirely Sicilian surname. There are about 2,800 families in Italy, with their heart in the interior of the island, between the Nebrodi mountains and Mount Etna. The town where it ranks number one is Troina, in the province of Enna. Outside Sicily you’ll find it mostly in Lombardy, where many families moved north in the 1900s, and in Calabria. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world the Trovatos reached are in the PDF.
Variants
Trovato’s closest cousins are surnames born from the same story in other regions: Esposito in Naples, Innocenti in Florence, Proietti in Lazio, Casagrande in Veneto. The PDF explains how each one was born.
FAQ
What does the surname Trovato mean?
It was most likely the name given to trovatelli, the abandoned children taken in by religious communities and hospices. The name told their story: they had been found.
Are people named Trovato descended from a foundling?
According to scholars, at the origin of a Trovato family there is most likely a child who was taken in. It’s a story that deserves respect: every Trovato family begins with a child someone chose to save and raise.
Is Trovato a Sicilian surname?
Yes, almost entirely. Its heart is in the interior of the island: it’s the fifth most common surname in the province of Enna and the top surname in Troina. Outside Sicily it’s found mostly in Lombardy and Calabria.
Do Trovato and Esposito have the same origin?
They tell the same experience, but each was born from a different child. Esposito was the name of the foundlings of Naples; in Sicily one of the words used for these children was Trovato.
Are all Trovatos related?
No. Two Trovato families can have completely different stories. To trace your own you need birth records and parish registers.
How can you spot a foundling ancestor in the archives?
Birth records may carry the words “esposto” (abandoned) or “di genitori ignoti” (of unknown parents). In that case the archives of the local hospice or foundling home may hold more information.
Is the Trovato surname noble?
No. Born from children taken in by convents and hospices, it’s the surname of families who had no titles or crests: they started from nothing.
Is there a Trovato family coat of arms?
No. A coat of arms belonged to a specific family, to one branch, and a surname born from foundlings never had one. Anyone selling “the Trovato coat of arms” is selling a made-up drawing.
