Frequency: (523)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Italian: 1. from branca ‘claw’, ‘hand’, hence a nickname for someone with a deformity of the hand or possibly for a grasping person. 2. from a short form of a compound personal name formed such as Brancaleone (‘lion's paw’).
GIVEN NAMES: Italian 11%. Salvatore (3), Guido (2), Rocco (2), Angelo, Carmine, Constantino, Francesco, Lorenzo, Natale, Nunzi, Pasco, Raffaele.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
