The Cirillo surname is derived from the place name Cirillo, located in south central Italy. As such, it is classed as a local name, 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.In the local dialect of Cirillo, the place-name is pronounced Cercelle, while natives are called Circellese. Alternatively, the surname Cirillo may come from a personal name, ultimately derived from the Greek mythological name Circe.
The surname Cirillo was first found in the year 1153, when records show Filippo Ciria of Cremona, who was made the Bishop of Capua.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cirillo research. More information is included under the topic Early Cirillo History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Cirillo are Cirillo, Ciri, Ciraulo, Ciraula, Cirauli, Cirilli, Cirilla, Cirilo, Cirili, Cirila, Ciriaci, Ciria, Ciriani, Cirotto, Cirotti, Cirello, Cirenei, Ciringhelli, Cirini, Cirino and many more.
Prominent among bearers of this family in early times was Bernardo Cirillo, an author in L'Aquila born in 1500; Francesco Cirillo of Naples was a famous musician around 1630; Giulio Cirello was a talented painter in Padua around the same...
Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cirillo Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Cirillo is the 11,727th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [1]
Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Cirillo, or a variant listed above: