Montalbano
An Italian surname taken from a place-name meaning “the mountain of Albano” or “Albano’s mountain.”
The #9,949 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,145 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Montalbano is an Italian habitational surname formed from Monte Alban(o) or a similar place-name element: monte means “mountain,” while Albano is a personal name or place-name component ultimately tied to Latin Albanus. The literal sense is therefore along the lines of “mountain of Albano” or “Albano’s mount.” As with many Italian surnames, it likely began as a label for someone who came from a town, hill, or district called Montalbano.
History
The name is most strongly associated with Italy, where several places called Montalbano helped generate surnames of this type. It is especially familiar in southern Italy, though it spread more widely through later internal migration and emigration. In modern times it is also recognizable outside Italy because of Italian diaspora communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Montalbano is also the surname of the fictional Sicilian detective Salvo Montalbano, which has made the name widely recognizable beyond genealogy circles.
From the historical record
“Florence, Santaeroce, Salerno, - Arno, Sarno, Adige, (see Tiber), Cosenza, Caserta, Bergamo, Loretto, Regio, Benevento, Sorrento, Gaeta, Monteverde, Monteleone, Montalbano, Novi, Como, Villalonga, Lodi, Marengo, Rivoli, Montebello, Areola, Solferino, Magenta, Lucca, Taranto, Brindisi, Bres- cia, Casanova, - Elba…”
— A Grammar of American Surnames