Giovanni History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

A variety of distinguished and notable names have emerged from the beautiful and historical Italian region of Tuscany, including the notable surname Giovanni. 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 Giovanni came from a popular variation of the well-known personal name Giovanni, or John.

Early Origins of the Giovanni family

The surname Giovanni was first found in Florence (Italian: Firenze), with Lapo Gianni in 1270. Gianni was a lyric poet and a friend of famous authors Dante and Cavalcanti.

Early History of the Giovanni family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Giovanni research. The years 1328, 1500, 1520, 1563, 1568, 1646, 1649, 1685, 1700, 1748, 1753, 1770 and 1801 are included under the topic Early Giovanni History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Giovanni Spelling Variations

Surnames that originated in Italy are characterized by an enormous number of spelling variations. Some of these are derived from regional traditions and dialects. Northern names, for instance, often end in "o", while southern names tend to end in "i". Other variations come from the fact the medieval scribes tended to spell according to the sound of words, rather than any particular set of rules. The recorded variations of Giovanni include Gianni, Giani, Ianni, Ianne, Ianno, Giannelli, Gianelli, Giannillo, Gianniello, Giannella, Gianella, Giannarelli, Giannetti, Gianetti, Gianettini, Giannetto, Gianetto, Giannitto, Giannini, Gianini, Giannino, Gianino, Iannetti, Ianetti, Iannitti, Iannacco and many more.

Early Notables of the Giovanni family

Prominent among members of the family was Lapo Gianni (died after 1328) an Italian poet who lived in Florence, eleven ballads and six songs of his remain; Donato Giannotti, a political writer and historian in Florence around 1500; Giugio Pippi di Giannuzzi, a painter and architect who assisted Raphael. When Raphael died in 1520, Giannuzzi completed the Transfiguration in the Vatican at Rome. Antonio Giannotti was Bishop of Forlì in 1563, and of Urbino in 1568; Antonio Gianettini, born in Venice in 1649, was a composer of operas, cantatas, oratorios...
Another 90 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Giovanni Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Giovanni migration to the United States +

In the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Giovanni

Giovanni Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

A. Giovanni, who arrived at the port of San Francisco in 1851
A Giovanni, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 1
Carlos Ernesto Giovanni, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1867 1
Riboldi Giovanni, aged 35, who arrived in Texas in 1884 1
Mr. M. Giovanni, (b. 1835), aged 53, Brazilian laborer traveling from Rio de Janeiro aboard the ship "S.S. Finance" arriving in New York in 1888 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Giovanni (post 1700) +

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. (b. 1943), American writer, commentator, activist, and educator
Joy Giovanni (b. 1978), American actress and glamor model
Joseph Di Giovanni, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1952 3
Armando Giovanni Iannucci OBE (b. 1963), Scottish Primetime Emmy Award winning satirist, writer, television director and radio producer
Maffeo Giovanni Ducoli (1918-2012), Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Belluno-Feltre (1975–1996)
Francesco Giovanni Bonifacio (1912-1946), Italian Catholic priest, killed by the Yugoslav communists, beatified in 2008
Manlio Giovanni Brosio (1897-1980), Italian lawyer, diplomat, politician, fourth Secretary General of NATO and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Adesi Giovanni Barone (b. 1951), Italian born professor of Finance at the University of Alberta at Edmonton, Canada
Tomasso Giovanni Albinoni (1671-1751), Italian composer
Giovanni Agnelli (1922-2003), Italian businessman, Chairman of Fiat and, with his family was the 146th richest person in the world in 2001

Citations +

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)
Barbados archives retrieved 27th October 2021 from https://atthebarbadosarchives.wordpress.com/2003/07/18/barbados-heritage-passenger-lists-and-barbados-departures/
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 15) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html