Most Italian Americans are Campanian origin, going by surnames.

[Peyrol]

12 out of 100 surnames are from the proper north, btw.

[Sikeliot]

I thought that Calabrese Italians formed the largest group.

Not according to the surnames. I also would be interested in looking up prominent Italian Americans and see where their surnames end up.

[Peyrol]

I can think only of Rudy Giuliani and Rick Santorum for americans of northern italian descents...

[Newsboy]

I can think only of Rudy Giuliani and Rick Santorum for americans of northern italian descents...

Yeah Rick Santorum is of Northern descent for sure. On the Wikipedia, it said his father came from somewhere in Trentino. His mother is half Italian with surname Dughi.

http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turis...0#.UcDm6ZzfLsZ
According to this, Rick's maternal grandfather probably came from the Brescia area.


As for Rudy Giuliani, his surname is pretty pan-Italian. His father's family could be of Apulian origin. Many southerners migrated north, so that probably raises the odds of Giuliani being of southern origin.
http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turis...0#.UcDnlpzfLsa

According to Wikipedia, his mother's surname is D'Avanzo which is southern in origin.
http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turis...0#.UcDn7pzfLsY

[sgillespie]

Giuliani is half tuscan (father from Montecatini) and mother from Campania. Btw most italian americans are a mix of different regions (when we are lucky) or mixed with other ethnicities (mostly Irish, Germans, english and so forth) nowadays there is a trend amongst italians living in the uS to marry asians and latinas more than the typical white anglo girls.
In Northern california there is a huge number of Lucchesi (immigrated there starting the end of the XIX century) and you have a good number of tuscans in Oregon (there is also an association of tuscans there). I can bet that the vast majority of italian americans are of Campanian descent, do not underestimate the abruzzesi and the molisani though, there are loads of them and also many southern Latium italians.

[Peyrol]

I thought Giuliani was a genovese surname...but probabily i'm only influenced by Carlo Giuliani, the ligurian communist guy killed by police in teh 2001 G8 meeting.

''Giuliani'' seems related in some way with the roman surname/family ''Julio''.

[alfieb]

I've said that most Italian-Americans are of Neapolitan-origin before. Joe Capelli didn't like it very much. He believes that Italian-Americans are the worst of Italy and the worst of America. Well, he was half-right.

(I, for one, think most Neapolitans suck.)

[Baluarte]

I think it's quite obvious, if I remember correctly the two most important ports for Italian emigration where Genoa and Naples. Genoese ships usually headed for Argentina, while the Neapolitan ones went to the US.

Seems obvious that Campanians would be the n1 regional origin.

[alfieb]

Anyway, here my surname in Italy and in the US...lol at the USA diffusion...

Don't be surprised. New Orleans has a large Italian population, especially Sicilians.

There is a bread from Agrigento called muffuletta which is extremely popular in New Orleans, but nowhere else in the United States.

[Peyrol]

Don't be surprised. New Orleans has a large Italian population, especially Sicilians.

There is a bread from Agrigento called muffuletta which is extremely popular in New Orleans, but nowhere else in the United States.

...i know, there were also piemontese volunteers in the Cobnfederate Army (probabily this is the explanation of the surname), but i expected to see a peak in New England...

...just look, for example, for ''Esposito'' (neapolitan):