Sardinian surnames are surnames with origins from the Sardinian language or a long, identifiable tradition on the Western Mediterranean island of Sardinia.
In Roman epigraphs from Sardinia, onomastics sometimes appear that would later come back in medieval and/or modern times. We mention for example: Latin: Torbenius Kariti (CIL, X, 7876) that reverberates in the medieval Sardinian: Torbenio / Sardinian: Torbeni / Sardinian: Torbini / Sardinian: Turbini / Sardinian: Dorbeni; Latin: Monioritinus (CIL, X, 7877), related to the surname Sardinian: Moni / Sardinian: Monni; Sardinian: Baris / Sardinian: Barix and the medieval Sardinian: Barisone / Sardinian: Parisone; Latin: Valeria Amoccada to today's surname Sardinian: Mocco; Latin: Ietoccor Torceri filius to the medieval Sardinian: Ithoccor and today's Sardinian: Stoccoro.[1]
Among the most valuable sources for the study of ancient Sardinian onomastics are the condaghes, administrative registers of the Sardinian Judicates dating back to the 11th-13th centuries, as well as the Latin: Ultima Pax Sardiniae, a 1388 peace treaty between John I of Aragon and Eleanor of Arborea, in which most of today's Sardinian surnames can be found, often written with a slightly different spelling (e.g. Sardinian: De Thori, today Sardinian: Dettori). Since the mid-16th century, thanks to the institution of the Latin: Quinque Libri, decided at the Council of Trent, it is possible to reconstruct the history and evolution of Sardinian surnames generation after generation. Surnames were frequently inherited from the maternal side, from the Middle Ages up to contemporary times.[2]
Current Sardinian surnames originated in the late Middle Ages. Most of the Sardinian-specific surnames derive from the Sardinian language, denoting toponyms (e.g. Sardinian: Bitti, from Bitti or Sardinian: Onnis/Onni and Sardinian: Fonnesu, from Fonni[3]), in particular of ancient villages (e.g. Sardinian: Kerki, a village in the Sardinian: [[curatoria]] of Nurra, and resulting in today's Sardinian: Cherchi, or Sardinian: Sogus, in the curatoria of Gippi, from which derive today's Sardinian: Sogus and Sardinian: Desogus) now largely disappeared (it is well known, as recorded by the historian John Day, the abandonment of hundreds of Sardinian villages during the 14th century because of the Black Death and the Sardinian-Catalan war[4]), animal names (e.g. Sardinian: Porcu "pig", Sardinian: Piga "magpie", Sardinian: Cadeddu "puppy dog" etc.), plant names (e.g. Sardinian: Meloni "melon", Sardinian: Floris "flower"), color names (e.g. Sardinian: Biancu "white", Sardinian: Nieddu "black"), nicknames (e.g. Sardinian: Pittau "Sebastian"[5]), sometimes indicative of a personal trait (e.g. Sardinian: Mannu "big") or of a filial relationship (e.g. Sardinian: Corbeddu, "son/daughter of Mr. Sardinian: Corbu"), and to a lesser extent anthroponyms (e.g. Sardinian: Catte, Sardinian: Marche "Marc" etc.) or trade names (e.g. Sardinian: Frau "blacksmith"); some of them derive from forms related to the Paleo-Sardinian substratum and sometimes already attested as onomastic forms in Sardinian epigraphs from the Roman period.
Among the Sardinian surnames which trace their roots outside the island, sometimes sardized, the most relevant percentage (7% circa of the total[6]) is constituted by surnames from Corsica (France), or those indicating a possible Corsican origin (e.g. Sardinian: Còssu, formerly written Sardinian: Corsu, that is "Corsican" or Sardinian: Còssiga, "Corsica"[7]); these are widespread mainly, but not exclusively, in the Northern Sardinian regions of Gallura, Anglona and Sassari, where people from Corsica are recorded to have settled down and even influenced the local linguistic landscape. A considerable migratory flow coming from the other side of the Strait of Bonifacio occurred, in fact, since the Middle Ages and ended only in the first decades of the 19th century.
Relatively common are also surnames originating from the Italian peninsula or indicating a possible Italian origin (e.g. Sardinian: Massa, ancient Italian: Di/De Massa e.g. Italian: Arsocco di Massa,[8] meaning from Massa, the Sardinian-language Sardinian: Pisanu or the Italian equivalent Italian: Pisano, meaning from Pisa, Sardinian: Pirisinu from Perugia), some of which are documented starting from the Judicates' period, and especially Ligurian and Tuscan surnames due to the political relations and trade between Sardinia and the two maritime republics of Genoa and Pisa; among the most influential in Sardinian history, the Lacon-Massa (Obertenghi), the Doria, the Visconti etc.
Quite significant is also the number of Iberian surnames, or surnames originating from the Iberian peninsula and specifically from the region of Catalonia (e.g. Catalan; Valencian: Aymerich,[9] Catalan; Valencian: Canelles, Catalan; Valencian: Sanjust[10] etc.). There are also cases of surnames that indicate an Iberian origin, even illustrious ones, already attested in records pertaining to the Judicates, such as Sardinian: Iohanne Cadalanu[11] ("John the Catalan") or Sardinian: Gosantine de Maiorica ("Constantine from Mallorca"), or the same royal family of the Arborean Judicate, the Sardinian: De Serra Bas, who partly descended from the Catalan; Valencian: Cervera's line, Visconts of Bas; they brought a large following to Arborea,[12] including perhaps the progenitors of the Sardinian: Garau families, from the Catalan Catalan; Valencian: Guerau "Gerard".[13]
The following surnames are the twenty most widespread ones in Sardinia: overall, 10 of them are required to identify 10% of the Sardinian population, and less than 100 for one third of all the island's residents.[14]
The following surnames are the most widespread ones by Province, the most common of which is Sardinian: Sanna ("fang").[15]
| Province | Surnames | |
|---|---|---|
| Melis, Piras, Sanna, Serra, Meloni, Lai, Murgia, Pinna, Orrù, Loi. | ||
| Sanna, Piras, Melis, Murgia, Pinna, Serra, Madeddu, Atzeni, Garau, Urru. | ||
| Pinna, Melis, Piras, Sanna, Serra, Manca, Pintus, Diana, Floris, Lai. | ||
| Lai, Piras, Loi, Melis, Deiana, Usai, Murru, Demurtas, Serra, Mereu. | ||
| Sanna, Piras, Manca, Carta, Porcu, Lai, Mura, Pinna, Floris, Serra. | ||
| Sanna, Piras, Pinna, Manca, Mura, Carta, Serra, Meloni, Melis, Porcu. | ||
| Sanna, Pinna, Piras, Manca, Mura, Sechi, Cossu, Solinas, Canu, Chessa. | ||
| Sanna, Deiana, Spano, Carta, Cossu, Addis, Pinna, Careddu, Meloni, Azara. |