Show ContentsDani History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Italian surname Dani is derived from the given name Daniel, originally a Hebrew word which meant "God is my Judge." During the Middle Ages, as populations grew and travel between regions became more frequent, the people of Italy, who were originally known only by a single name, found it necessary to adopt a second name to identify themselves and their families. This process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries, but it was not completed until the modern era.

Early Origins of the Dani family

The surname Dani was first found in Bolgna (Latin: Bononia), the largest city and the capital of Emilia-Romagna Region. The famous University of Bolgna was founded in the 11th century, by the 13th century the student body was nearly 10,000. Dante and Petrarch studied there. Tisso was tried there for 1564 for writing satirical poems. Earliest records of the surname Dani date back to the year 1400, when Bernardino Danielo was a famous poet in the town of Lucca. In those ancient times only persons of rank, the podesta, clergy, city officials, army officers, artists, landowners were entered into the records. To be recorded at this time was in itself a family honor.

Early History of the Dani family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dani research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1700, 1720, 1740, 1774 and 1787 are included under the topic Early Dani History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dani Spelling Variations

Enormous variation in spelling and form characterizes those Italian names that originated in the medieval era. This is caused by two main factors: regional tradition, and inaccuracies in the recording process. Before the last few hundred years, scribes spelled names according to their sounds. Spelling variations were the unsurprising result. The variations of Dani include Danieli, Daniele, Danielis, Danielli, Daniello, Danello, Dainelli, Danielli, Daniello, Danello, Dainelon, Danelutti, Danelut, Danielut, Dani and many more.

Early Notables of the Dani family

Prominent among members of the family was

  • Giovanni Battista Danieletti, a stone carver in Padua around 1720, Francesco Daniele, born in Caserta in 1740, a prominent intellectual and a man of letters, as well as Luigi Danele, considered to be...
  • Giovanni Danieletti, born in 1774, was a sculptor who specialized in the rococò style...
  • Giacomo Danieletti was one of the most talented architects in Padua and won first prize in an architecture contest in 1787...

Migration of the Dani family

Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Dani: John Daniele, who was naturalized in Illinois in 1904; as well as Mercurio and Nicolamario Daniele, who arrived at the port of New York from Italy in 1893..


Contemporary Notables of the name Dani (post 1700) +

  • Ashwin Suryakant Dani (1943-2023), Indian billionaire, businessman, and the non-executive chairman of Asian Paints Ltd
  • Nandor Dani (1871-1949), Hungarian one time silver Olympic medalist for athletics during the 1896 games
  • Dani Parejo Muñoz (b. 1989), Spanish footballer
  • Dani de Wit, Dutch footballer
  • Dani During, American production assistant, known for her work on Love Is... (2016), Perspective (2013) and The Pickup Artist (2007)
  • Dani Siciliano, American singer
  • Dani Reiss, CEO of the Canadian company Canada Goose, manufacturer of extreme cold weather outerwear, designed for research scientists who worked in Canada's far north and Antarctica
  • Dani Behr (b. 1971), British television presenter and singer
  • Dani Diaz, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Idaho, 2004 1


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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