Frequency: (652)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Italian (Naples): 1. variant of Matera. 2. possibly from a local form mat(t)era ‘wood’, from Spanish madera.
GIVEN NAMES: Italian 27%. Salvatore (7), Elena (3), Mario (3), Sal (3), Gilio (2), Gino (2), Giovanni (2), Giuseppe (2), Pasquale (2), Vincenzo (2), Agostino, Angelo, Antonio, Arnaldo, Attilio, Emilio, Ernesto, Geremia, Julio, Orlando, Rafael, Tiberio, Tito.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
Dictionary of American Family Names. Copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks. All rights reserved.
