Pesci Surname in Italy

The surname Pesci is widespread in central and northern Italy and is mainly connected to the medieval personal name Pesce, from which several related family names also descend. The name was not only associated with the fisherman’s trade: in Christian symbolism it could also mean “good Christian” or “faithful Catholic,” thanks to the Gospel image of Christ as a fisher of men and to the Greek acrostic Iesous Christòs, Theou Yiòs, Sotér. In some branches, a nickname based on the trade of fisherman or on a physical or behavioral feature of the original bearer may also have played a role.

Among the related forms, Pesce is pan-Italian; Pescetta is extremely rare and seems to come from eastern Veneto; Pescetti is very rare and appears typical of the province of Macerata, especially Potenza Picena; Pesciarelli has one branch in Rome and another in the Ancona area, particularly Sassoferrato; Pescini is typically Tuscan, especially from Florence; Pescio and Pescetto are typically Ligurian; Pescione appears to be typical of Avella in Campania; Pesciolini is typical of Florence and Incisa in Val d’Arno; Pescioni is characteristic of Prato; and Pesciotti is Roman. Traces of these surnames are documented in Liguria as early as the 17th century.