Frequency: (485)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Italian: from the personal name Longino, from Latin Longinus, from longus ‘long’, ‘tall’; the name is found mainly in northeastern Italy, which was the center of the cult of San Longino, a soldier who, according to legend, was martyred at Cappadocia. Medieval legend also had it that this was the name of the soldier who pierced Christ's side with a spear at the Crucifixion. In the form Longinos it is also found as a Greek family name.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
