Secchi Surname in Italy

The surname Secchi has several origins, with a strong historical core in Sardinia and early attestations also in Liguria, Lombardy and Emilia. Medieval Sardinian records show many close spellings and forms such as Seke, Secke, Sechie, Sekke, later Seche, Sechi, Secchi and Sequi. In the Genoa area, Secchi is already documented in 1199 among the signatories of the oath of loyalty to the Malaspina marquises, while in Sardinia the surname appears in the Condaghi and other medieval island records.

The group of variants Secchi, Sechi, Seche, Seci, Secci and Sequi is generally traced back to a nickname based on a physical feature, especially thinness, with possible links to Sardinian and northern Italian words meaning “thin,” “dry” or “old.” For the Sardinian branch, a Ligurian origin has also been proposed, which fits the long historical ties between Genoa and Sardinia. Secco belongs to a different, Venetian line. Secchi is therefore not a single-line surname, but a cluster of branches that later spread mainly in Sardinia and northern Italy.