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A variety of distinguished and notable names have emerged from the beautiful and historical Italian region of Tuscany, including the notable surname Orlando. During the Middle Ages, as populations grew and travel between regions became more frequent, the people of Tuscany, 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. The development of Italian hereditary surnames followed general principles and were characterized by derivatives from one's given name. The patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, was one of the most common name types found in the region of Tuscany. This system of name-making was widely used because it linked well with the existing Feudal System and during the Christian era, many people named their children after saints and biblical figures. The surname Orlando came from the German given name Rolando, which derives from the Germanic Hroth-nanthaz meaning famous and ardent.
The surname Orlando was first found in Pisa in 965, when the Orlandi family arrived from Germany with Emperor Ottone. Lamberto Orlandi was an admiral of 50 galleons in 1030. Aldobarandino Orlandi was Supreme Commander of the Pisan forces in 1115. Giovanni Orlando was Archbishop of Sassari; and Gerardo Orlando was Bishop of Aleria, on the island of Corsica.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Orlando research. The years 1445 and 1690 are included under the topic Early Orlando 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 Orlando include Orlandi, Orlando, Orlandelli, Orlandini, Orlandoni, Orlanducci and many more.
Prominent among members of the family was
In the United States, the name Orlando is the 3,028th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Orlando is ranked the 5,332nd most popular surname with an estimated 1,000 - 1,500 people with that name. 2
In the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Orlando were found: