Calabrese
An Italian surname meaning “a person from Calabria.”
The #4,127 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,905 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Calabrese is an Italian regional surname formed from Calabrese, meaning “Calabrian” or “from Calabria.” It ultimately refers to Calabria, the region at the toe of Italy, and the name is built on the place-name with the Italian adjective suffix -ese, used for people from a place. In origin, it is an ethnonymic surname, identifying someone by homeland rather than by occupation or personal trait.
History
The surname would have begun as a way to identify an immigrant or outsider from Calabria and then became hereditary. Like many Italian regional surnames, it is especially common in southern Italian naming patterns and later spread through migration to other countries, including the United States. The 2010 U.S. census recorded it as a relatively uncommon but well-established surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same word pattern appears in many Italian surnames and adjectives, such as Bolognese, Milanese, and Genovese.
From the historical record
“covite), - Venetian, Tuscan, Napolitan, Florentine, Sorrentine, ?aduan, Capuan, Pavian, Pisan, Sicilian, Siracusan, Milanese, Maltese, Calabrese, Bolognese, Genoese, Albanese, Lucchese, Veronese, Dago, Lazzaroni, Padrone, - Alpine, Romany, Swiss, Switzer, Schweitzer, Savoyard, Genevese, - Gothlander, Coastlander…”
— A Grammar of American Surnames