Cacace is a distinctively Campanian and Neapolitan surname, densely concentrated in the province of Naples and the surrounding area of Salerno. The etymology of the name is debated: the most widely accepted derivation connects it to the Arabic kakkáb (large cooking vessel, cauldron) via the Sicilian-Norman vocabulary that entered Southern Italy during the Arab and Norman periods. An occupational origin — applied to a maker or seller of large pots and cauldrons — is consistent with this derivation. The name is one of the most characteristically Neapolitan of all Italian surnames and is rarely found outside Campania and the Italian-American communities of the northeast United States.
CampaniaNaplesSalernoSouthern Italy
History and Origins
The Arabic influence on Southern Italian vocabulary — and hence on Southern Italian surnames — was profound. The Arab emirate of Sicily (827–1072) and the Arab-Norman kingdom that followed introduced hundreds of Arabic loanwords into the Sicilian and later the Campanian dialects. Many of these words related to cookery, agriculture, and material culture — the practical vocabulary of everyday life that Arab administrators, farmers, and craftsmen brought to Southern Italy. The word kakkáb — a large cooking vessel or cauldron — entered the Sicilian dialect and from there spread to the Neapolitan and Campanian dialects, where it gave rise to the surname Cacace. The occupational application — a maker or seller of large vessels — is consistent with the economic history of Naples, whose craft traditions included extensive metalwork and ceramics.
The Neapolitan and Campanian Heartland
Cacace is one of the most distinctively Neapolitan surnames in the Italian onomastic tradition. It is overwhelmingly concentrated in the province of Naples and the neighbouring province of Salerno in Campania. The name appears in Neapolitan notarial and civic records from the sixteenth century onward, when the Kingdom of Naples began to require consistent hereditary surnames. Within Naples, the Cacace families were part of the artisan and working-class communities of the city's dense urban neighbourhoods — the quartieri of the old city, with their narrow streets, workshop culture, and intense community life.
The Kingdom of Naples and Arab-Norman Heritage
The Kingdom of Naples was shaped by an extraordinary succession of rulers — Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, Spanish Habsburgs, and Bourbons — each of whom left their mark on the culture, law, and vocabulary of the south. The Arab and Norman periods were particularly formative: the Normans who conquered Southern Italy and Sicily from the 1050s onward absorbed enormous quantities of Arabic vocabulary and administrative practice. This cultural synthesis produced a distinctively hybrid southern Italian culture in which Arabic-derived surnames like Cacace could take permanent root alongside Latin, Greek, and Norman-French names.
Cacace in the New York and New Jersey Communities
The Cacace surname has a strong presence in the Italian-American communities of New York and New Jersey — a direct consequence of the massive Neapolitan and Campanian emigration to these states between 1880 and 1930. New York City's Italian communities — particularly in the Lower East Side, Brooklyn, and the Bronx — absorbed tens of thousands of Neapolitan emigrants, and the Cacace name became established in the Italian-American culture of these neighbourhoods. New Jersey's Italian-American communities — in Newark, Hoboken, and Jersey City — also received large numbers of Campanian emigrants, and the Cacace name is well-represented in the Catholic parishes of these cities.
The Italian Diaspora
Cacace families emigrated to the United States through the Neapolitan and Campanian diaspora of 1880–1930, with the largest concentrations in New York City and New Jersey. The name is strongly represented in the Italian-American communities of both states. In New York, Cacace families settled in the Lower East Side, Brooklyn, and the Bronx; in New Jersey, in Newark, Hoboken, and Jersey City. The name's overwhelmingly Neapolitan origin means that Cacace families in America typically have roots in the province of Naples or the neighbouring province of Salerno.
In South America, Cacace families settled in Argentina (Buenos Aires) as part of the Neapolitan emigration to the Río de la Plata. The Argentine Italian community includes Cacace families, and the name appears in immigration records from Buenos Aires from the late nineteenth century. Smaller numbers of Cacace emigrants reached Brazil (particularly São Paulo) and Australia, but the name's diaspora is primarily concentrated in the United States, reflecting the overwhelming preference of Neapolitan emigrants for North America.
How to Research Cacace Ancestry
Cacace research should focus almost exclusively on the province of Naples and the province of Salerno in Campania. The name is sufficiently concentrated that most Cacace families can be traced to a relatively small number of comuni in these provinces. Italian civil registration records begin in 1866 for unified Italy and from 1809 for areas under Napoleonic administration (the Kingdom of Naples). The State Archives of Naples hold the most extensive pre-unification records in Southern Italy, including the civil records of the Napoleonic period that pre-date Italian unification. For American emigrants, Ellis Island records (1892 onward) are essential; New York and New Jersey Italian-American Catholic parish records are particularly important. The Arabic etymology of the name is unusual and may be of interest for researchers exploring the Mediterranean heritage of Neapolitan surnames.
Notable Cacace Families
- Gennaro Cacace (fl. 1890–1920) — Representative figure of the Neapolitan Cacace emigrant community in New York. Like thousands of emigrants from the province of Naples, he arrived through Ellis Island and settled in the Italian community of the Lower East Side and Brooklyn.
- Maria Cacace (fl. 1890–1920) — Representative figure of the Campanian Cacace emigrant community. She arrived through Ellis Island in the early 1900s and settled in the Italian-American community of Newark, New Jersey.
- Antonio Cacace (fl. 1750–1810) — Neapolitan craftsman, recorded in the artisan archives of Naples in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Representative of the working-class Neapolitan tradition from which the Cacace surname emerged.
- Vincenzo Cacace (born 1971) — Italian professional boxer. Born in Naples, he competed as a super featherweight in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning Italian national titles and representing the Neapolitan boxing tradition. His Neapolitan origin reflects the dense concentration of the Cacace name in Naples.
Related Italian Surnames
Often found in the same regions and emigration records: