Santangelo
An Italian surname meaning “Saint Angel” or “Holy Angel,” originally a devotional or place-based name.
The #7,698 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,601 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Santangelo is an Italian surname built from santo/san, meaning “saint” or “holy,” and Angelo, the Italian form of “angel” and also a common personal name. In literal terms, it means “Saint Angel” or “Holy Angel,” and it may have begun as a devotional name, a reference to a church or shrine, or a habitational name from a place called Sant’Angelo. The form reflects the common Italian practice of combining religious vocabulary into surnames and place names.
History
The surname is especially associated with southern Italy, where names built on saints’ names and religious place names are common. It likely arose independently in more than one locality, since Sant’Angelo is a frequent place-name across Italy. In the United States, it is most often found in families of Italian immigrant origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Sant’Angelo is also the name of many towns, villages, and churches in Italy, so the surname can sometimes point to a family’s ancestral home rather than a literal saintly nickname.