Falco

History & Origin

Falco derives from the Latin and Italian falco, meaning falcon — the bird of prey that was central to the aristocratic sport of falconry throughout medieval Europe. The surname could have arisen in several ways: as an occupational name for a falconer (someone who trained and flew falcons for a lord), as a heraldic surname from a family whose coat of arms featured a falcon, as a personal nickname for someone with falcon-like qualities (sharp eyes, swift movement, predatory effectiveness), or from the personal name Falco, which was used in medieval Italy.

Falconry was a prestigious sport throughout the Norman and Hohenstaufen kingdoms of southern Italy. The Emperor Frederick II (1194–1250), who ruled from Palermo and was one of the most remarkable figures of medieval Europe, wrote the definitive medieval treatise on falconry — De arte venandi cum avibus (The Art of Hunting with Birds). Frederick's court in Sicily was the centre of a sophisticated culture in which the falcon had both practical and symbolic significance. A Falco surname from Sicily or Campania may connect to this world of Norman and Hohenstaufen aristocratic culture.

The variant Falcone — which adds the augmentative suffix, suggesting the great falcon — is perhaps more common, and the name Giovanni Falcone is associated in modern Italian memory with the Palermo judge who led the Maxi Trial against the Sicilian Mafia and was assassinated in 1992. The Falco/Falcone surnames thus carry both the elegance of medieval falconry and the courage of modern Sicilian justice.

Spelling Variants

• Falcone
• Falconi
• Falcucci
• Del Falco
• Di Falco