Morano
A surname of likely Italian and Spanish origin, often linked to place-based naming or an old byname built on a personal name.
The #8,449 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 78,963 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Morano is most likely a surname that developed in Romance-language settings, especially Italian and Spanish. In many cases it is taken as locational, referring to someone from a place called Morano or Morán-type names; in other cases it may reflect a regional form related to the surname Moran. The literal sense is not certain from the historical evidence alone, so the name is best treated as a Romance surname with more than one possible pathway.
History
The form is well established in southern Europe and later appears in immigrant communities in the Americas. Its spelling and sound fit patterns seen in Italian and Spanish surnames, which makes independent local origins plausible in more than one region. In U.S. records it remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname can be mistaken for the much more common Moran, but the final -o gives it a distinctly Italianate or Hispanic look and sound.
From the historical record
“Vesuvia Foster, a fiery one. Mrs. Minerva Gray occupies a humble tenement for a goddess, as does also Mrs. Vesta Morano. Urania is the Christian name of a citizen moving in a humble sphere. Mr. Ceaser Hodder is a carpenter ; Mr. Julius Knott- MAN, a peddler ; and Mr. Artaxerxes C. Hoyt, an upholsterer. Ep^aminondas…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)