Rizzo
An Italian surname most often understood as a nickname or a short form built from a personal name root, rather than from a place or trade.
The #1,943 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,595 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is Italian, and older scholarship treats it as a family-name form built from a personal name rather than as an occupational or locational surname. The excerpted source uses Rizzo as the base of a patronymic-looking formation, which supports the idea that it functioned as an inherited name tied to a given-name root. The exact underlying root is not firmly established from the excerpt alone, so the safest reading is that it is a South Italian/Italian surname with a personal-name origin.
History
Rizzo is a well-established surname in Italy, especially in the south, and it later spread widely through Italian migration. In modern usage it is common in Italy and in Italian diaspora communities, including the United States. Because the historical excerpt is incidental rather than a full dictionary entry, the deeper medieval history should be treated cautiously.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Italian, the spelling is unchanged, but the pronunciation is often with a sharp double-z sound, roughly like REET-tso in many regional accents.
From the historical record
“des Tiugo (Thiudger); Ruckdeschel (W.) ist Tassilo, der Sohn des Ruggo (Rudger) ; Ritzhaupt (St.) ist Hugi- poto, der Sohn des Rizzo; Hattenrath ist Rato, der Sohn des Hatte. Wenn Hiltebeutel (D.), Siebenbeutel (W.) der Butilo des Hildo, des Sibo ist, so muss Beutelrock der Boggo des Butilo sein. In Seidenfuss…”
— Die oberdeutschen Familiennamen