Coniglio is one of Sicily's characteristic animal surnames — in medieval Sicily, nicknames derived from animals were given to families either based on occupation (rabbit-breeders or hunters), physical resemblance, or simply as identifying tags in densely populated communities. The name is concentrated in the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento in western Sicily, and appears in records from the 13th century onward in Aragonese Sicily.
Coniglio families emigrated heavily from western Sicily during the great migration of 1880–1924, settling in New York (particularly Brooklyn and the Bronx), New Orleans, and Chicago. The name appears in US census records as Coniglio, Cuniglio, and occasionally anglicised — though most families maintained the Italian form.
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