Frequency: (871)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Italian: ethnic name for a Turk, Italian Turco, or a nickname from the same word in the sense of a non-Christian or, following the medieval ethnic stereotype, a cruel, ferocious, or short-tempered person. See also Turk. This name may also be of Greek origin, from Tourko-, Tourkos ‘Turk’. It is often found combined with a personal name to form a Greek surname, for example Tourkantonis ‘Turkish Anthony’ (i.e. ‘Anthony the Muslim’, ‘Anthony originally from Ottoman Turkey rather than the Greek state’, or ‘Anthony the irascible’), Tourkogeorgis ‘Turkish George’, Tourkomanolis ‘Turkish Emmanuel’, etc.
GIVEN NAMES: Italian 8%. Salvatore (5), Angelo (4), Antonio (2), Gaetano (2), Patrizio (2), Carmin, Concetta, Domenic, Gennaro, Natale, Sal, Santo.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
