Angelo
A surname often linked to the personal name Angel or Angelo, originally meaning “angel” or “messenger.”
The #4,590 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,952 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Angelo is generally understood as a surname taken from a given name, especially the Christian personal name Angelo or Angel, ultimately from Greek angelos, meaning “messenger.” In medieval and later European usage, that word came to refer to a heavenly messenger, so the name could be given with devotional force. In some cases, especially in Romance-language contexts, it may simply reflect the baptismal name Angelo rather than a separate occupational or descriptive sense.
History
The surname appears in several European naming traditions and was especially familiar in Italian and related forms. The historical excerpts also show it being treated as part of a wider family of names such as Angel, Angley, Engall, Ingle, and related continental spellings, though those comparisons are not always exact equivalents. In Britain and Ireland, some bearers may descend from immigrants or from families whose surnames were anglicized from related foreign forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name is closely related to the word “angel,” so it carries one of the most instantly recognizable religious meanings of any surname.
From the historical record
“with the suffix son. Sometimes there may be a direct allusion to the celestial hierarchy, as in the cognate foreign surnames Angelo, Angellis. Angellico. AXGELSOX. The son of Anegold, a pei"sonal name.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom