Often
when I walk through the streets of Pescia, I note a poster that brings a smile
to my face. It is for the Maltaglia Tappezzeria. Maltagliati is a family name
that is quite common in the city; there are at least 30 people with this
surname in Pescia and nearby communities. What makes me chuckle is that one of
the Maltagliati families founded a tappezzeria, an upholstery shop.
Why is that amusing? Because maltagliati literally means
“badly cut,” so the store name is “Badly cut upholstery.”
I’ve
noted before that Italy has more surnames than any other country. Not even
China, with a population 22 times greater, or the United States, a melting pot
of immigrants, has a greater variety. Italy is also famous for giving people
nicknames, and in years past, when not everyone had a surname, nicknames
sometimes morphed into official last names.
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| Rovina means "ruin," not the best name for a lawyer. |
Another
surname even more common in the Pescia area is Malfatti, which means badly
made. One has to wonder, didn’t people originally assigned these surnames have
some choice? Couldn’t they have refused it? However, Doctor Sergio Nelli, who
works in the state archives in Lucca, once pointed out to me that the strange
surnames could have originally been more honorable. Perhaps the first Malfatti
could have earned that name for being a good judge of craftsmanship, famous for
rejecting items that were poorly constructed. It is often stated that the head
of the fiorentino Pazzi family was called Pazzo—crazy—for his
courage in being the first man over the walls in the Siege of Jerusalem during
the First Crusade in 1099. In the case of maltagliati, this word is also the name of a kind of pasta typical of the nearby Emilia-Romagna region. In making maltagliati, the excess parts of the dough, around the edges, are left with irregular shapes and thicknesses—thus the application of of the term “poorly cut.” The family name could have come from the pasta—or really any one of a number of other applications.
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| Something you don't want to do when learning to drive is panic. |
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| Muoio is a form of the verb "to die," literally meaning "I die." |
Sometimes
the name perfectly fits the occupation, as with our cousin and friend Elena
Benvenuti, the area’s premier guida turistica, tour guide. Her
surname means “welcome.” There is also a travel agent south of Torino
named for proprietress Iris Viaggi, whose name means travel. But these perfectly fitting names aren’t
nearly as amusing as those which negate or exaggerate the occupation. One
Italian blogger has found a number of these and even documented their veracity
by listing the city and phone number of each. I will leave out some details for
brevity but will provide necessary translations instead.
Doctor
Carlo Mangione is a dietologo, a dietitian. Mangione means
“glutton.”
Emilia
Guastadisegni is an architetto e pittrice, an
architect and painter, but her surname means “spoiled designs.”
Doctor
Girolamo delle Donne is an ostetrico, an obstetrician. Delle
Donne means “of the women.”
Pietro
Baccalà is a pescatore in Genova, a fisherman perhaps specializing in cod (baccalà).
Dottoressa
Addolorata Malatesta is a female doctor in Bojana who specializes in
headaches. Malatesta means “bad head” (headache is mal
di testa). In addition, addolorata means “pained.”
Avvocato
Fedele Sposato is a divorzista—a divorce lawyer. Sposato means
“married,” and fedele is “faithful.”
There are
two funeral directors in Rome with interesting names: Antonio Malattia and
Giuseppe Mortale. Hopefully they are not partners, because mortale is
“mortal,” malattia is “disease.”
Maria
Antonia Puzzolente owns a negozio profumi, a perfume shop, but her
surname means “malodorous.”
And
finally, here’s one where no translations are needed: Carmelo Erotico is the
proprietor of the Sexy Shop in Bologna.
For more stories about crazy and interesting Italian names, read also
A pazzi by any other name
More bizzarri Italian names
