Spinelli Surname in Italy

Spinelli is a patronymic and derivative surname linked to the medieval personal name Spina, to a diminutive form of Spinello, or in some cases to the truncation of Crispino and its diminutives. In certain areas it may also derive from place names such as Spina in the Perugia area, Spinea in the Venetian area, Spineda and Spino d’Adda in Cremona, Spinete in the Campobasso area, or Spineto Scrivia in the Alessandria area. The surname is pan-Italian and widely distributed across the country. Among related forms, Spina and Spinelli are found throughout Italy, while other variants show more localized patterns: Spinella is typically Sicilian, Spinello has branches in the Turin area, in Veneto and in Sicily, Spinetta is characteristic of the Genoa area and nearby provinces, Spinetti is mainly found along the Tyrrhenian belt between Liguria and Tuscany with additional presence in Lazio, Spinetto is specific to Chiavari and Mezzanego, and Spini is chiefly Lombard, with another branch in Tuscany.