Capone — Capone is a Southern Italian surname with two possible etymologies: from capo (head) with the augmentative suffix -one, giving 'big head' as a physical nickname; or from the Italian word for capon — a castrated rooster raised for eating — as an occupational nickname for a poultry farmer or seller. Both interpretations were used in medieval Italian naming. The surname is concentrated in Campania (particularly Naples province) and in Sicily.
History & Origins
Nickname surnames derived from physical characteristics or occupational associations were among the most common categories of Italian family names. Capone — whether it meant 'big-headed' (from capo with the augmentative -one) or 'capon keeper' (from the bird name) — was recorded as a personal name and then a hereditary surname in Southern Italy from the thirteenth century onward. The ambiguity between the two etymologies is genuine and unresolved, and different regional branches of the Capone family may have acquired the name through different routes.
The Campanian Heartland
Capone is most densely concentrated in Campania, particularly in the province of Naples and in the provinces of Caserta and Salerno. The name appears in Neapolitan civic and notarial records from the early sixteenth century, when the Kingdom of Naples began requiring consistent use of hereditary surnames. Campanian Capone families were part of the artisan, farming, and merchant communities of the kingdom's densely populated coastal plain.
The Name Beyond Al Capone
The Capone surname gained enormous international recognition through Alphonse Gabriel Capone (1899–1947), the Chicago crime boss whose parents emigrated from Angri, in the province of Salerno, Campania. Al Capone's fame has overshadowed a surname with deep roots in legitimate Campanian and Sicilian history. The hundreds of thousands of Italian-Americans named Capone bear a name carried by farmers, craftsmen, and professionals for generations before and after the brief criminal celebrity of one individual.
The Capone Diaspora
Capone families emigrated to the United States during the Italian diaspora of 1880–1930, concentrating in the Italian-American communities of New York, New Jersey, and Chicago. The Campanian (Salerno, Naples) branch was particularly well-represented among New York and New Jersey emigrants. Smaller Capone communities exist in Argentina (Buenos Aires) and Australia (Victoria). The name is firmly established in Italian-American genealogical records, with the large majority of families entirely unconnected to the notorious Al Capone.
Genealogy Research Guide
Capone research focuses on Campania, particularly the provinces of Naples, Salerno, and Caserta. For emigrants to the United States, Salerno province — including towns like Angri, Nocera Inferiore, and Cava de' Tirreni — was a major source. The State Archives of Naples and Salerno hold pre-unification records. Ellis Island records (1892 onward) document the emigrant wave. New York and New Jersey Italian-American Catholic parishes hold large Capone populations.
Notable People Named Capone
- Alphonse Capone (1899–1947) — American organized crime figure. Born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents from Angri, Salerno province, Campania. His parents' emigration story is typical of the Campanian exodus of the 1890s.
- Truman Capote (1924–1984) — American writer and novelist — born Truman Garcia Persons. His pen name Capote is a Spanish variant of the Italian Capone, adapted through the Cuban-American lineage he claimed through a stepfather. Not of Italian descent, but the name reflects the Spanish equivalent of the Italian surname.
- Various Capone families of Naples — Documented in Neapolitan civic records from the sixteenth century onward, the legitimate Capone families of Campania were farmers, craftspeople, and merchants whose history spans centuries before and after the twentieth century.
Related Italian Surnames
Often found in the same regions and emigration records: