Di Carlo
An Italian surname meaning “of Carlo,” originally identifying someone as the son or family member of a man named Carlo.
The #7,992 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,612 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Di Carlo is an Italian surname built from the preposition di, meaning “of” or “from,” plus the personal name Carlo, the Italian form of Charles. In surnames, this usually signaled descent or association, so the original sense was “Carlo’s” or “belonging to Carlo,” often implying “son of Carlo.” The name ultimately goes back to Germanic roots behind Charles, commonly linked with the idea of a “free man.”
History
Patronymic surnames of this type are especially common in Italy, where many family names formed from a father’s given name. As people moved and records were standardized, the space and capitalization often disappeared, producing forms like Dicarlo. The name is found among Italian and Italian-American families, especially in communities shaped by southern Italian migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Italian surnames often preserve the father’s given name, Dicarlo is one of many surnames that started as a simple phrase of identification before becoming a fixed family name.