What does my Italian last name mean in English?

My last name is Piccotti. I speak very little Italian, but I've always wondered what my name means in the language. My guess it means small something or other. Any clue?? Thanks!!

What does my Italian last name mean in English?
Small is "Piccolo" and plural "piccoli".


I don't think that means something.


in sicilian pi (per) means for and cotti means cooked.





http://www.cognomiitaliani.org/cognomi/c...





Ciao
Reply:"La picotta" used to be a popular colloquial term that described smallpox in medieval times. So people whose face showed the marks left after having smallpox were nicknamed "Picotti" (marked with many small holes).


Also "picca" was the name of a medieval pointed weapon like a lance ("pic" in English). So there is a possibility that it was the nickname given to men of arms who carried such weapons (which pierced or scarred).


It would be difficult to find an exact English equivalent as it would have to be something like "Pox marked" , but there are English surnames such as "Pearce" "Pierce" "Piercy" and there is the equivalent name "PICOT":


http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?na...
Reply:Hi maybe today its not as easy to find the word since it is a local slang term.





The most feasible is if it has a Sicilian, Napolitan or Sardinian origin and comes from Piccota - a type of Cherry sold without a "tail" stem (Bigarreau cherry). Hence Piccotti would be plural of Piccota. Piccotti - plural might refer to farmers or workers of the cherry industry.





Or from Spanish Picota - the gallows. Piccotti would come either from a plrual form or a prural noun related to those who where send to the gallows





(Catalans, Valencians, Aragonese %26amp; Spanish Kings, owned and governed Sicily, Naples and Sardinia for over 400 years and left there mark in the language, character and traditions).





Hope it helps


Santiago
Reply:it's connected with piccolo ''little''
Reply:This is a bit tortuous and may be totally wrong; but, as you've had no definitive answer, here goes.





In Spanish, the suffix 'oto/ote' is augmentative. Italian picco is peak or summit, with the plural picchi (the h is there to stop the 'c' being pronounced [ch] before 'i'.) So, it's not inconceivable that piccotti indicates high peaks or summits and may indicate the sort of terrain your forebears came from. I warned you I might be clutching at straws, but 'picco' was the first thing that came to mind.
Reply:As it is today, it means nothing in Italian. However, it may well come from a word meaning "small" in some dialect or other. We all know that last names were often just a "nickname" of the head of the family that either discribed his job or his appearance or whatever.


The word for "small person" or "child" in Sicilian is "picciotto" so I don't think it would be far off to assume that your last name comes from a variation of this word.