Sicilian Name Generator

Sicilian names are Italian names with a distinctly island accent. The traditional given-name stock is narrower and more devotional than on the mainland: Salvatore, Giuseppe, Antonino, Calogero, Rosario, Gaetano, and Carmelo for men; Concetta, Rosalia, Agata, Giuseppina, Santa, Nunzia, and Provvidenza for women. Many honor local patron saints, so Rosalia is Palermo, Agata is Catania, and Calogero belongs to Agrigento and the interior. Families traditionally named the first son after the paternal grandfather and the first daughter after the paternal grandmother, which is why cousins so often share a name and go by nicknames like Turi, Totò, Nuccio, Pippo, Cettina, and Santuzza.

Surnames carry the island's layered history. Many end in -o and -a rather than the northern -i (Russo, Lombardo, Caruso, Messina), and Greek, Arabic, Norman, and Spanish roots show up in names like Scuderi, Zappalà, Mulè, Cangemi, Giuffrida, and Grimaldi. Article surnames beginning with Lo, La, and Li (Lo Presti, La Rosa, Li Calzi) are strongly Sicilian, as are place-based names such as Palermo, Siracusa, Trapani, Taormina, and Modica.

Every entry here pairs a real island given name with a surname that actually occurs on the island, so a name from this list will sound right to anyone from Sicily.