Grillo is an Italian surname meaning 'cricket' (the insect Gryllus campestris), derived from the Latin gryllus. Surnames derived from animal names — particularly creatures associated with positive or vivid characteristics — were common in the medieval Italian naming tradition. The cricket, associated with song, liveliness, and summer warmth, was applied as a nickname to an ancestor who was particularly lively, talkative, or musically inclined. The Grillo surname is found throughout Italy but is most densely concentrated in Liguria and Piedmont in the north, and in Sicily in the south.
LiguriaPiedmontSicilySouthern Italy
History and Origins
Animal-derived nicknames were one of the most productive sources of Italian surnames in the medieval period. The cricket — grillo in Italian, from the Latin gryllus — was associated in Italian folk tradition with liveliness, constant chatter, and the warmth of summer evenings. A person nicknamed il grillo (the cricket) would have been someone notable for their talkativeness, their cheerfulness, or perhaps their small and nimble build. When hereditary surnames became required in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the nickname became the permanent family name.
The Ligurian and Piedmontese Heartland
Grillo is most densely concentrated in Liguria — particularly in the Genoa area — and in Piedmont. The Ligurian Grillo family has deep roots in the mercantile and maritime culture of the Republic of Genoa. Grillo families appear in Genoese notarial and municipal records from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, making the Ligurian branch among the oldest documented of the Italian Grillo lines. The Genoese merchant class in which Grillo families participated was connected to the wider Mediterranean trading world, and Grillo names appear in records from Sardinia, Corsica, and the Italian commercial colonies of the eastern Mediterranean.
The Sicilian Branch
A substantial branch of the Grillo surname is found in Sicily, particularly in the western provinces. The Sicilian Grillos likely developed independently from the Ligurian branch, reflecting the independent emergence of animal-derived nicknames as surnames across Italy. In Sicily, the Grillo surname is associated with the towns of Palermo, Trapani, and Agrigento, and emigrated heavily to the United States (particularly New York) and to Argentina during the mass emigration of 1880–1930.
The Grillo Name in Modern Italy
The Grillo surname became internationally known through Beppe Grillo (born 1948), the Genoese comedian and political activist who founded the Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle) in 2009. The movement, which began as a political blog and protest movement, became one of the most significant political forces in Italian history, winning the largest share of votes in the 2018 Italian general election. Beppe Grillo's Genoese origin is consistent with the Ligurian concentration of the Grillo surname.
The Italian Diaspora
Grillo families emigrated from both the north and south of Italy during the great diaspora of 1880–1930. The Sicilian Grillos concentrated in New York City, New Jersey, and the industrial cities of the northeast United States. The northern Italian Grillos went in smaller numbers to the Americas, with some settling in Argentina and Brazil alongside other Ligurian and Piedmontese emigrants. The name is present throughout the Italian-American communities of New York and New Jersey.
In South America, particularly Argentina, the Grillo surname is found among Italian communities in Buenos Aires and the agricultural provinces of the Pampas, where Italian settlers — including Sicilians and Ligurians — established farming communities from the 1870s onward. The Argentine Grillo families are primarily of Sicilian origin, part of the broader Sicilian emigration to Argentina that ran parallel to the Sicilian emigration to the United States.
How to Research Grillo Ancestry
Grillo research requires identifying whether the family is from Liguria/Piedmont (northern Italy) or from Sicily (southern Italy), as these are genealogically distinct lines. For Ligurian Grillos, the State Archives of Genoa hold records from the thirteenth century onward. For Sicilian Grillos, the State Archives of Palermo, Trapani, and Agrigento are the primary sources. Italian civil registration begins in 1866. For American emigrants, Ellis Island records (1892 onward) are essential. The New York and New Jersey Italian-American communities hold the largest Grillo populations outside Italy.
Notable Grillo Families
- Beppe Grillo (born 1948) — Genoese comedian, blogger, and political activist. Co-founder of the Five Star Movement (2009), which became Italy's largest party by vote share in the 2018 general election. A major figure in contemporary Italian political history.
- Marchese di Grillo (fl. 1700–1750) — Roman nobleman celebrated in eighteenth-century society for his elaborate and satirical practical jokes. His exploits became legendary in Roman society and contributed to the association of the Grillo name with wit and mischief.
- Alexia Grillo (fl. 1890–1920) — Representative figure of the Sicilian Grillo emigrant community in New York. Like thousands of Sicilian emigrants, she arrived through Ellis Island and settled in the Italian communities of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
- Saverio Grillo (born 1960) — Italian jurist and magistrate. Served in the Italian judiciary in Calabria and was associated with anti-Mafia prosecutions in the 1990s.
Related Italian Surnames
Often found in the same regions and emigration records: