Marchesi Surname in Italy

Marchesi is a surname strongly rooted in the Lombardy-Emilia area and most likely derives from the medieval personal name Marchese, already documented in 12th-century Milan. In some cases it may also have arisen as a nickname referring to an ancestor’s connection with a noble household, for example as a servant or sharecropper, or from traits, bearing, or behavior seen as reminiscent of a marquess. The same name family produced several related forms and diminutives spread across different parts of Italy: Marchese, pan-Italian but especially strong in Sicily; Marcheselli, with branches in the Milan area, Mantua-Parma, between Modena and Bologna, in the Pesaro area, and between Florence and Arezzo; Marchesello, very rare and likely Venetian; Marchesetti, concentrated in the Cremona area and in parts of Milan province; Marchesin, typically Venetian; Marchesini, widespread in northern Italy but also found in the Marche and Lazio; Marchesino, extremely rare and possibly the result of a transcription error for Marchesini; Marchesoni, from Trentino; Marchesotti, specific to the Alessandria area; and Marchisotti, certainly Piedmontese, along the belt running from the Verbano through Novara and Alessandria to Genoa. For Marchesin in particular, Venetian records also support a different origin in some families: a diminutive of Marco, meaning ‘little Marco’, rather than a derivation from Marchese.