Female naming traditions, and name-changing rules after adoption for both sexes, likewise differ between Roman antiquity and modern Italian use.
Almost every base name can have a diminutive form ending with -ino/-ina or -etto/etta as in Paolino/Paoletto and Paolina/Paoletta from Paolo and Paola, -ello/-ella, as in Donatello/Donatella from Donato and Donata, or -uccio/-uccia, as in Guiduccio from Guido.
Some nomi were taken from classical clan names (nomina) for their meanings or because they are euphonic, such as Emilio/Emilia (from Aemilius), Valerio/Valeria (from Valerius), Claudio/Claudia (from Claudius), Orazio (from Horatius), Fabio (from the cognomen Fabius), Flavio/Flavia (from Flavius) and Fulvio from Fulvius.
When combined with a second given name, Giovanni and Pietro are commonly contracted to Gian- and Pier-, as in Giancarlo, Gianfranco, Gianluca, Gianluigi, Gianmarco, Gianmaria, Giampaolo (Gianpaolo), Giampiero (Gianpiero), Giambattista, Pierangelo, Pierantonio, Pierfranco, Pierluigi, Piermaria, Pierpaolo, and so on.
In time, the middle possessive portion ("of the") was dropped, but surnames became permanently pluralized even for a single person.
Originally they were indicated by a possessive, e.g., Francesco de Bernardo, meaning "Francis (the son) of Bernard".
Nicknames, referring to physical attributes or mannerism, also gave rise to some family names, e.g., Rossi (from rosso "redhead"), Basso ("short"), Caporaso ("shaved or bald head"), Pappalardo ("lard-eater", an insult for someone claiming to be devout but ate meat and fatty dishes in forbidden times),[14] and Barbagelata ("frozen beard").
[15] A few family names are still in the original Latin, like Santorum, De Juliis and De Laurentiis, reflecting that the family name has been preserved from Medieval Latin sources as a part of their business or household documentation or church records.
In some areas of Italy, individuals and their descendants may have taken a second surname, attached to the first by the word detto, vulgo, or dit (all meaning “called” or “known as”).
Articles were also omitted for surnames with an identifiable foreign origin (including Latin ones) such as Cicerone.
The Greco-Italian practice even spread to French in the 17th century, especially in writings regarding figures in literature and painting such as le Poussin.