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| Origins Available: |
| | Italy |
The distinguished surname Maio originated in an area of Italy, known as the Papal States. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adapt 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 are characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. Although the most traditional type of family name found in the region of the Papal States is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, local surnames are also found. Local names, which are the least frequent of the major types of surnames found in Italy, are derived from a place-name where the original bearer once resided or held land. Often Italian local surnames bore the prefix "di," which signifies emigration from one place to another, but does not necessarily denote nobility. The Maio family lived in the Italian town of Maiolo, in Pesaro in central Italy.
The surname Maio was first found in the ancient city of Orvieto, with Lorenzo Maitani, born in 1275.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Maio research. The years 1494, 1723 and 1782 are included under the topic Early Maio History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Maio include Maiolo, Maione, Majo, Majone, Mai, Maitani, Maineri, Maio, Maioli, Maiolo, Majoli, Majolo and many more.
Prominent among members of the family was
In the United States, the name Maio is the 14,557th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1
Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Maio or a variant listed above: