Show ContentsGrossi History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

From the historical and enchanting Italian region of Piedmont emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Grossi family. During the Middle Ages, as populations grew and travel between regions became more frequent, the people of Tuscany found it necessary to adopt a second name to identify themselves and their families. 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. Although the most common type of family name found in Piedmont is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, the nickname type of surname is also frequently found. Nickname surnames were derived from an eke-name, or added name. They usually reflected the physical characteristics or attributes of the first person that used the name. The surname Grossi is a name for a person who was corpulent or stout. The surname Grossi is derived from the word grasso, which means overweight.

Early Origins of the Grossi family

The surname Grossi was first found in the year 1200, with the Grosso family, of which many members were involved in the government.

Early History of the Grossi family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Grossi research. The years 1512, 1634, 1688 and 1826 are included under the topic Early Grossi History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Grossi Spelling Variations

There are many variations of most of those Italian names that originated in the medieval era. Some of these come from regional differences, like the tradition of ending northern names in "o" and southern names in "i". Others come from inaccuracies in the recording process, which were extremely common in the eras before dictionaries standardized spelling. Some of the spelling variations of Grossi are Grossi, Grosso, Ingrosso and Del Grosso and others.

Early Notables of the Grossi family

Prominent among members of the family was

  • Bartolomeo de Grossi, a 15th century painter from Parma. Among his works are frescoes in the Cathedral of Parma, and works in the Milan Cathedral. Pietro Grossi was a vicar and was mayor of Russi in 1...
  • Francesco di Pietro Grossi was a Senator in Ravenna in 1512. Carlo Grossi (c.1634-1688) was an Italian composer in the 17th century. He composed much church music, operas, and sonatas. Tommaso Grossi...

Grossi Ranking

In the United States, the name Grossi is the 13,509th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1


United States Grossi migration to the United States +

Research into various historical records has revealed some of first members of the Grossi family to immigrate North America:

Grossi Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Grossi, aged 35, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1810 2
  • Alfonso Grossi, aged 38, who landed in America from Italy, in 1892
Grossi Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Amelio Grossi, aged 20, who settled in America from Santo Ambrogio, Italy, in 1912
  • Achille Luigi Grossi, aged 39, who landed in America from Fermo, Italy, in 1912
  • Alberto Grossi, aged 23, who immigrated to the United States from Villaviani, Italy, in 1912
  • Aldnino Grossi, aged 16, who landed in America from Vecchiano, Italy, in 1913
  • Adolfo Grossi, aged 17, who landed in America from Patrica, Italy, in 1913
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Grossi (post 1700) +

  • Alex Grossi (b. 1976), American guitarist
  • Orietta Grossi (1959-2024), Italian basketball player
  • Paolo Grossi (1933-2022), Italian jurist, President of the Constitutional Court of Italy (2016-2018)
  • Pietro Grossi (1917-2002), Italian composer pioneer of computer music
  • Gabriele Grossi (b. 1972), retired Italian professional football player
  • Tommaso Grossi (1791-1853), Italian poet and novelist from Lombardy
  • Guy Grossi (b. 1965), Australian Chef and media personality


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


Houseofnames.com on Facebook