# Do Italian last names with della/delle &c. indicate nobility?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 24, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182 "2001-04-24T20:23:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nisi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a8b319/32.png) [@nisi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisi)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182/1 "2001-04-24T20:23:23Z")

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I was just reading this article, and I wanted to add that my parents tell me those names that begin with “Mal-”, like Malfara, Malatesta &c. indicate that somewhere along the line, there was an orphan. Orphans would get left with nuns or something like that (usually anonymously) and the nuns would name the kids. I guess the nuns didn’t always like the kids, so they would give them names beginning with “Mal-” because that means “bad.” I don’t know if this is actually true, or if the same holds for those last names beginning with “Buon-” (as in Buonfiglio &c.) for the kids the nuns did like. I just thought it might be interesting to look at the flipside of this topic.

D.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182/2 "2001-04-24T21:59:17Z")

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Welcome, **nisi**! Just so everyone knows what you’re talking about, it’s a good idea to post a [link to the original column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_005.html).

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182/3 "2001-04-24T22:32:22Z")

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Yeah, welcome to the Straight Dope, don’t forget the link, etc…

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2001, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182/4 "2001-04-25T07:29:34Z")

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As this column illustrates, one of the amazing things about Cecil is his ability to work flatulence into topics as diverse as Italian nomenclature and Swiss cheese.