Florio
A name of Italian origin, ultimately linked with flowers or blooming, and best known through the Renaissance scholar John Florio.
The #7,858 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 73,319 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Florio is an Italian surname built on the Latin root flor-, meaning “flower” or “bloom.” It may have begun as a personal name or as an ornamental surname associated with flowers, flourishing, or prosperity. The same root appears in Italian words like fiori (“flowers”) and in many related names across Romance languages.
History
The surname is strongly associated with Italy and with Italian-speaking communities. Its most famous bearer was John Florio (c. 1553–1625), the Anglo-Italian lexicographer and language teacher whose work helped shape English knowledge of Italian. In English records the name is usually encountered through Italian immigrants or descendants rather than as a native English surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
John Florio’s dictionaries and language manuals were hugely influential in the Elizabethan period, and his surname helped make Italian learning fashionable in England.
From the historical record
“a leather-hosier (v. LeatherhoacV Hence ' Buskines, fine boots ' (Florio). Walter Bookyti, Cine Roll, 31 Edw. I. n^er BDckakyn. B.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances