Palermo
A locational surname taken from the Sicilian city of Palermo, meaning “from Palermo.”
The #4,348 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,813 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Palermo is a habitational surname, formed from the name of the Sicilian city of Palermo. The city’s name goes back through Italian and Latin to earlier Greek and Phoenician forms; its deeper origin is usually explained as a place-name rather than a transparent personal or descriptive word. As a surname, it would originally identify someone who came from, lived in, or had some connection with Palermo.
History
This kind of surname is common in Italian naming practice, especially where families were identified by their place of origin. Palermo has also been carried abroad by Italian emigrants, which helped spread the name in the Americas and elsewhere. The historical excerpts mention Palermo repeatedly as a well-known Sicilian place, but do not provide a distinct surname etymology beyond the place-name connection.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Palermo is both a major Sicilian city and a surname, so the family name often reads like a geographic label at first glance.
From the historical record
“. . . Art, under his auspices, produced alike the stern grandeur of Caen\-ind Ely, and the brilliant gorgeousness of Palermo and Monreale. In a word, the indomitable vigour of the Scandinavian, joined lo the buoyant vivacity of the Gaul,])roduced the conquering and ruhng race of Europe.' ' - The destinies of this…”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States