Surname/tag: Basso

Contents 1 Purpose of the Basso One Name Study 2 Basso Name Meaning 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Latin form Bassus 2.3 Popularity of the Basso surname 2.4 Basso family in history 2.5 Variances of the Basso surname 3 Place of origin 3.1 Distribution of Basso among Italian regions 3.2 Distribution of Basso in the Veneto region 3.3 Relative distribution of Basso in Italian commune 4 Famous Basso 4.1 Junius Bassus 4.2 Saint Bassus of Lucera 4.3 Matteo Bassi 4.4 Ugo Bassi 4.5 Lelio Basso 4.6 Marino Basso 4.7 Christian Basso 4.8 Martín Basso 4.9 Claudio Basso 4.10 Ivan Basso 4.11 Anthony Basso 4.12 Gabriel Basso 4.13 Annalise Basso 5 Heraldry 5.1 Coat of arms of the Basso family branch of Monte Sant'Angelo, Puglia 5.2 Coat of arms of the Basso family in Liguria and Piedmont around 1000 A.D. 6 Sources

Purpose of the Basso One Name Study

This is a One Name Study to collect together in one place everything about the surname Basso and its variants. The hope is that other researchers like you will join our study to help make it a valuable reference point for people studying lines that cross or intersect. Please contact the project leader, add "Category:Basso Name Study" to your profiles of people born with the Basso surname, add your questions to the bulletin board, add details of your name research, etc.

Basso Name Meaning

Etymology

According to the etymology of the Basso surname it may has originated from a nickname or a name indicating a person of small stature but also from the noble Basso house in the Campana region (Campana on Wikipedia) in the Calabria region of Southern Italy.^[1]

The Dictionary of American Family Names defines the origin of Basso in a similar way: in some cases from Bassus, a family name of the Republican period, from Latin bassus ‘thickset’, i.e. wide as opposed to tall; in others from a medieval nickname Basso meaning ‘short’, ‘low’, a derivative of bassus.^[2]

Latin form Bassus

In this second case the latin form Bassus created the surname in the Republican era (this is the Roman Republic era). The search for the meaning and origin of the surname Basso leads, as shown by acts of time, in the High Middle Ages times (see: the High Middle Ages) where the history of the name indicates a Leo Bassus from Farfa, near Lazio, in the year 840 and a Landulfo Bassus, from Adversa, in the year 1160.^[3]

Popularity of the Basso surname

In total there are about 4696 Basso in Italy in 1259 municipalities (in Italian comuni). Basso is also the 189th most popular surname in Italy.^[4]

Basso family in history

The surname Basso, absolutely one of the oldest in Italy, was present in the Mediterranean area before the birth of Christ. There is evidence to be found in ancient Greece with Lollio Basso, a Roman epigrammatist from the 1st century AC along the shores of North Africa and, particularly, in the Italian pensinsula and Rome. Here in particular, eminent personalities carried that surname who occupied political offices, civil and military prestige without forgetting those who contributed to the development of culture and Latin civilization^[5]

Variances of the Basso surname

Among the Italian surnames one can find variants like Bassich in Veneto, Bassetti in Lombardy, Trentino and Umbria and Bass in Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, the latter throughout Italy as a whole.

Accompanied by "Lo" or "Li" as in Lo Basso or Li Basso is a derivation of Southern Italy. If you know a Bascio or a Basciu their origins will presumably be southern or Ligurian but if you meet a Bassino could be originating from Turin while Bassotti is more Marche.^[6]

Still, for the genealogical time frame where written records exists it should be possible to find family members which originate from one joined ancestor, like eg in Asiago there are many Basso but it seems they all go back sooner or later to one family.

Place of origin

Basso is primarily a surname common in Northern Italy, in Veneto, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy and Friuli but, although in lesser numbers, it can also be found in lesser number in Lazio and Puglia (see distribution of Basso surname further down).^[7]

Distribution of Basso among Italian regions

There are approximately 4696 Basso in Italy and 36% of them are from the Veneto region with another 16% from the Piemonte region^[8]:

Distribution of Basso in the Veneto region

Further zooming into the Veneto region displays that 94% of the Basso in the Veneto region are from 4 Provinces, namely Treviso, Vicenza, Venezia and Padova^[9]:

Relative distribution of Basso in Italian commune

I've compiled a table of Italian commune with more than 20 Basso in there and ordered them by their weight vs the total population in that city. This is list of communities where different lines of Basso are most likely originating from^[10]:

Famous Basso

Among the illustrious men indicated by this surname are:

Junius Bassus

Junius Bassus who was the "praefectus urbi" of Rome when he died in 359AD

Saint Bassus of Lucera

Saint Bassus (c. 40/50 - 118) was a Christian martyr and saint

Matteo Bassi

Matteo Bassi (b. in 1495 - 1552) was the co-founder and first Superior-General of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins

Ugo Bassi

Ugo Bassi (b. August 12, 1800 - August 8, 1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and Italian nationalist

Lelio Basso

Lelio Basso (b. December 25, 1903 - December 16, 1978) was an Italian democratic socialist politician and journalist

Marino Basso

Marino Basso (b. June 1, 1945) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who won the World Cycling Championship in 1972

Christian Basso

Christian Basso (b. September 27, 1966) is an Argentine musician, known as both a composer and a multi-instrumentalist

Martín Basso

Martín Basso [b. July 26, 1974) is an Argentine racing driver

Claudio Basso

Claudio Basso (b. August 6, 1977) is an Argentine singer

Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso (b. November 26, 1977) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer

Anthony Basso

Anthony Basso (b. July 4, 1979) is a French footballer

Gabriel Basso

Louis Gabriel Basso III (b. December 11, 1994) is an American film and television actor, who has been appearing in film and television roles since 2007

Annalise Basso

Annalise Basso (b. December 2, 1998) is an American film and television actress and model

Heraldry

The heraldry of surnames illustrates the family clan of Basso: the branches of Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto were awarded Noble title whereas the descendants of the House of Liguria were Counts noble appellation meaning "Companion of the Prince"^[11]

Coat of arms of the Basso family branch of Monte Sant'Angelo, Puglia

The excellent website Noble Basso families researched by Professor Pasquale Basso has the coat of arms of the Monte Sant'Angelo branch of the Basso family:

It consists of a blue lion straightened up naturally which breaks with the left paw a column and holds a lily of identical color in the right one.^[12]

Coat of arms of the Basso family in Liguria and Piedmont around 1000 A.D.

^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/basso.htm
2. ↑ Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
3. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/basso.htm
4. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/basso.htm
5. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.nobili-napoletani.it/Basso.htm
6. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/basso.htm
7. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/basso.htm
8. ↑ http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani/BASSO/
9. ↑ http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani/BASSO/VENETO/
10. ↑ http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani/BASSO/
11. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/basso.htm
12. ↑ http://www.nobili-napoletani.it/Basso.htm
13. ↑ Translation by Andreas West from http://www.nobili-napoletani.it/Basso.htm