Dessi' Surname in Italy

Dessi and Dessì are surnames strongly rooted in western and southern Sardinia, especially in the Oristano area and the Iglesiente, with another branch in the Sassarese. Their origin is generally traced to the ancient name of Sini, in the Oristano region: the place was called Sinu in Nuragic times and later Sii in the Middle Ages, which gave rise to the older forms De Sî and De Sìi, meaning “from Sini.” The surname is therefore toponymic and medieval in formation, linked to a Sardinian place name rather than to a personal name. Historical records show many bearers of the De Sii form in judicial-period documents, concentrated in Marmilla, the Campidano of Oristano and the Trexenta. The evolution from De Sî to Dessì is old and already documented in the 15th century. The apostrophized spelling Dessi' should be treated as a graphic or family variant of Dessì.