Cesaro History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

The distinguished surname Cesaro can be traced back to the ancient and beautiful region of Sicily, which is located off Southwestern Italy and incorporates the island of Sicily itself, the area of Naples, and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent. The process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames was not complete until the modern era, but the use of hereditary family names in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries. Italian hereditary surnames were developed according to fairly general principles and they were characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. The most common type of family name found in the region of Sicily is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name. During the Middle Ages, Italians adopted the patronymic system of name-making because it perfectly complemented the prevailing Feudal System. In Italy the popularity of patronymic type of surname is also due to the fact that during the Christian era, people often named their children after saints and biblical figures. The surname Cesaro was derived from the given name "Cesare," and originally derived from the famous Roman family name "Caesar." In Classical times, the name "Caesar" was associated by folk etymology with the Latin Caesaries (head of hair).

Early Origins of the Cesaro family

The surname Cesaro was first found in the year 1278, where Nicol Cesareo was listed in the Sicilian city of Messina. Nicol Cesari, was a priest in Rome during the 14th century and worked closely with Pope Martino V. Later, Giulio Cesarini was a listed as a lawyer in Rome around 1400.

Early History of the Cesaro family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cesaro research. The years 1398, 1444, 1466, 1470, 1510, 1542, 1568, 1571, 1600, 1622, 1640, 1650 and 1750 are included under the topic Early Cesaro History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cesaro Spelling Variations

Italian surnames come in far more variations than the names of most other nationalities. Regional traditions and dialects are a decisive factor in this characteristic. For example, northern names tend to end in "o", while southern in "i". Also important, but not unique to Italy, was the fact that before dictionaries and the printing press most scribes simply spelled words according to their sounds. The predictable result was an enormous number of spelling variations. The recorded spellings of Cesaro include Cesari, Cesare, Cesaro, Cesar, De Cesare, Cesaris, De Cesaris, Di Cesare, Cesarelli, Cesaretti, Cesarini, Cesarino, Cesarìn, Cesarotti, Cesaroni, Cesarone, Cesarano, Cesarato, Cesaratto, Cesariano, Cesareni and many more.

Early Notables of the Cesaro family

Prominent among bearers of this surname in early times was

Virginio Cesarini was a nobleman and philosopher in Rome around 1600, Livia Cesarini was a member of one of the two most wealthy Roman families in 1650 and thus had many suitors, Carlo Francesco Cesar...

Migration of the Cesaro family

An examination of many early immigration records reveals that people bearing the name Cesaro arrived in North America very early: Angelo Cassar, aged 23, who arrived at Ellis Island from Crandi, Malta, in 1920; Assunta Cassar, aged 33, who arrived at Ellis Island from Palermo, Italy, in 1917.

Contemporary Notables of the name Cesaro (post 1700) +

Andrea Cesaro (b. 1986), Italian footballer
Ernesto Cesàro (1859-1906), Italian mathematician who specialized in the field of differential geometry and developed the Cesàro mean