Cicero — Cicero is an Italian surname with two overlapping origins: from the Latin cicer (chickpea), applied as a nickname or occupational name for chickpea growers or those who bore a physical resemblance to the legume; and from the cognomen of the Roman orator and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC), whose own family name derived from the same Latin root. Cicero is concentrated in Sicily and Campania.
History & Origins
The Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) bore a cognomen derived from the Latin cicer (chickpea) — a vegetable nickname that ancient writers explain by reference to a distinguishing physical mark on a Cicero ancestor's nose, or to the family's history as chickpea growers. Whatever its origin, the cognomen Cicero attached itself to one of the most celebrated names in the Latin literary tradition, and after the fall of Rome the name survived as both a learned reference and a vernacular Italian surname in its own right.
The Sicilian Concentration
Cicero is most densely concentrated in Sicily, particularly in the provinces of Palermo, Agrigento, and Catania. The Sicilian Cicero families were farming, artisan, and merchant communities of western and central Sicily. The name also appears in Campania (particularly in Naples province) and in Calabria. These southern Italian concentrations reflect both the agricultural roots of the chickpea nickname and the cultural prestige of the Roman orator's name in a region where Latin learning was maintained by the Church throughout the medieval period.
Cicero in America
Cicero families emigrated to the United States during the Italian diaspora of 1880–1930, settling primarily in the Italian-American communities of New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. The town of Cicero, Illinois — a Chicago suburb — was named after the Roman orator long before Italian immigrants arrived, but its Italian-American population (which grew substantially in the early twentieth century) gave the name a dual resonance in American cultural memory.
The Cicero Diaspora
Cicero families from Sicily and Campania emigrated to the United States during 1880–1930, settling in New York (Brooklyn, Queens), New Jersey, and Illinois. Smaller communities established themselves in Argentina (Buenos Aires) and Australia. The name is documented in Ellis Island records and in Italian-American Catholic parish records of the northeast United States.
Genealogy Research Guide
Cicero research focuses on Sicily (Palermo, Agrigento, Catania provinces) and Campania (Naples province). The State Archives of Palermo and Naples hold pre-unification records. For US emigrants, Ellis Island records and New York, New Jersey, and Illinois Italian-American Catholic parish records are essential. The famous Roman orator connection is etymological, not genealogical — Italian families named Cicero are not descended from Marcus Tullius Cicero but share the same Latin root word.
Notable People Named Cicero
- Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) — Roman orator, statesman, philosopher, and writer. The greatest prose stylist of the Latin language. His cognomen Cicero (chickpea) is the etymological ancestor of the Italian surname. Assassinated on the orders of Mark Antony.
- Carmen Cicero (1926–2014) — American abstract expressionist painter, born in Newark, New Jersey, to Italian-American parents. A significant figure in the New York School of painting in the 1950s and 1960s.
Related Italian Surnames
Often found in the same regions and emigration records: