Italian surname?

Question

I found out that Rossi means red...so if someone has the surname Rossi what does this mean?

Are they descendants from the Viking?

Answer 1

Rossi definitely derives from „red“, but all the rest is pure speculation.

Up to Roman times people had three part names like Caius Julius Caesar, which meant Caius (praenomen or Christian name) Julius ( nomen or clan name) and Caesar cognomen or surname). When the barbarians took over they kept  very little of this up and simply applied first name indications like John son of William, or John the Red, because he had red hair, or a ruddy face or liked wearing red clothes.

Only in recent centuries were these names changed into surnames, like Williams or Williamson, or Rosso or Rossi.

Whether your “clan” descends from Vikings is  debatable, remember that many Celtic people (Italian Gaul) also had red hair. Try and look up DNA research and check your own DNA to try and  narrow the field down.

If you go to page 13 of the DNA tribes you'll notice that "Italian" (or any other "Nation") is not an "ethnic" but a "cultural" definition, because "Italians" have a very rich combination of many tribes in their DNA.

Do you want to elevate your  Italian "mind set"? Go ahead, concentrate on the language, culture and life style,  don't worry about name roots, they really have no meaning in "ethnic terms".

Aquilani, derives from “eagle”, but could also be an inhabitant of l’Aquila, the Regional capital of the Abruzzi.

Answer 2

Hi!I write from Italy.

Rossi is a very common surname in Italy...like maybe Smith in America.

Rossi means nothing but is similar to "Rosso" which is our term for "Red".

I don't know which is its origin.I think surnames where invented during the medieval age and were inspired by works, qualities or characteristics of a family. Often sons took the surname from their father or city of origin. An example is Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo, came from the city of "Vinci". Or Dante Alighieri. Dante was the son of Alighiero.

Nobles had often a surname with the preposition "De" which is something like the english "Mac" or the german "Von".

Answer 3

do you know italian?

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossi_%28fa...

Answer 4

About Rossi surname:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossi