Vaccaro
An Italian surname meaning “cowherd” or “dairyman,” from a word for cattle work.
The #5,169 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,632 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Vaccaro comes from Italian vaccaro, a term for a cowherd, cattleman, or dairyman. The word is ultimately tied to Latin vacca, meaning “cow,” with the occupational suffix -aro. In origin, it was a straightforward job-name surname for someone who tended cattle or worked with dairy animals.
History
The surname is most strongly associated with Italy, where occupational bynames like Vaccaro became hereditary family names over time. It is also found in communities of Italian descent abroad, especially in the Americas. Because the provided excerpt only mentions the name incidentally, this entry relies on general onomastic knowledge rather than a direct dictionary definition.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root vacca also lies behind English words like “vaccine,” through the historical association with cowpox.
From the historical record
“Colchagiiino Ricardo Frias Humberto Vaccaro Luis Troncoso Carlos E. Soto Rosa Garcia Abelardo Lavin Filomena Merino C.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos