Caiazzo

History & Origin

Caiazzo is a topographic surname derived from the town of the same name in the province of Caserta, in the Campania region of southern Italy. The town of Caiazzo — an ancient hilltop settlement on the Volturno River — has a history stretching back to the Samnite period (before Roman conquest) and was an important centre in the Norman kingdom of southern Italy. The Normans, who conquered southern Italy in the eleventh century, established the County of Caiazzo as one of the noble titles of their kingdom — giving the town a particular feudal significance.

Families who took their name from Caiazzo were typically those who originated there and moved to Naples or other Campanian towns, carrying the village name as their identifier. The town itself sits in the Caudine Valleys region — historically significant terrain that connects the Caserta plain with the Benevento hinterland. The Campanian landscape of ancient towns, medieval castles, and Roman road networks shaped the naming patterns of families throughout the region.

In the mass emigration of 1880–1924, Campanian families — including those from the Caserta province — were among the largest groups leaving for America. The port of Naples was the primary embarkation point for southern Italian emigrants, and the communities established in New Jersey and Connecticut are particularly associated with Campanian emigration from this area.

In the Diaspora

Italian-American Caiazzo families are most concentrated in New Jersey and Connecticut, with smaller communities in New York. The name is uncommon enough that most American Caiaazzos share a close common ancestry from the Caserta region of Campania.