Campana

Etymology

Campana is the Romance word for “bell,” ultimately from Latin campana, literally “of Campania,” the Italian region where bells were associated in late antiquity. As a surname, it most likely began as a nickname for someone linked with bells—such as a bell-maker, bell-ringer, or a house or inn marked by a bell—or as a place-name surname from a locality called Campana or Campaña. In Spanish usage, the same form can also be felt as a word for “bell” and, in some contexts, related to “campaign/field,” but the surname sense is usually tied to the bell word.

History

The form is common in Italy and also occurs in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas, where it was carried both as an inherited surname and as a toponymic name. Historical surname lists and dictionaries frequently place Campana among names derived from common nouns or locality names. In some regions it may have been reinforced by independent origins, so the same spelling can have more than one source line.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

The English word “campanology,” the study of bells, comes from the same Latin root as Campana.

Related surnames