Gentile Surname in Italy

The surname Gentile is widespread throughout Italy except Sardinia. The variant Gentili is mainly located in central and northern Italy, with a strong presence in Lazio. Gentilin is typically Venetian, especially in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. Gentilini is common across central-northern areas including Bologna, Ravenna, Forlì, Rimini, and Florence, as well as a significant group in Rome. Gentilino is very rare and may result from transcription errors of Gentilini. The form Ientile has clusters in Genoa, the area between Rome and Anzio, Torre del Greco near Naples, and the Reggio Calabria area around Mammola, Grotteria, and Cinquefrondi. Ientili and Jentile are extremely rare and likely transcription variants. Zentile, also very rare, appears in Trentino, Vicenza, and the Sassari area in Sardinia, while Zentili, almost lost, seems to originate from the Bergamo and Brescia regions. All these forms derive directly or through diminutives from the medieval given name Gentile, with dialectal substitutions of the initial G by I or Z.