Surname Salemme and variations

The variations appearing in Italy are Salemma, Salemmi and Salemmo, probably taking origin from a misspelling or transcription error. In past centuries many surnames were used in the plural (-i) for a family group, and in the singular with the ending -a for females and -o for males.

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Etymology

A number of possible etymologies exist, none really excluding the others, and probably dependent on local history.

It might derive from the town of Salemi, in the province of Trapani, as the surname Salemi, of clear toponymic origin.
As for the town of Salemi, from nicknames originating from the Arabic word salam (= peace).

From contracted forms of the first name Salomone.
Another possible origin, connected maybe to a Jewish ancestry, is from the city of Jerusalem, with the loss of the first part of the word Gerusalemme, Italian for Yerushalayim, which appears for the first time in the Book of Joshua. Abraham took his son Isaac to the Temple Mount (Moriah) to sacrifice him to God and, after a messenger from heaven interrupted him, he named that place Yireh which in Hebrew means God will see. When later on Abraham saved his grandson Lot from captivity, Malchizedek, king of Shalem, offered him bread and wine. According to tradition, Malchizedek was Shem, son of Noah, and Shalem was none other than the same land called Yireh by Abraham, hence Yireh + Shalem = Yerushalayim.

Diffusion

Salemme

Italian White Pages: in 2020 there are 231 listings of individuals, of them 131 in Campania.
Ellis Island: 155 arrivals for Salemme immigrants are recorded, coming mostly from the area of Naples, Grisolia, Fondi, Gaeta.

Salemmo

The surname is extremely rare, with only very few telephone listings in Italy and 6 records on Ellis Island, of which two from Avellino and two from Grisolia appear as possible misspellings of Salemme. It might be a singulare masculine of the original Salemme.

Salemma

The surname is extremely rare, almost non-existing in Italy. There are about a dozen listings in the USA, and only 3 records on Ellis Island, originating from the places where Salemme is common. It might be a singulare feminine of the original Salemme.

Salemmi

The surname appears with a dozen listings in the Italian white pages of 2020, with branches in Cannara (province of Perugia) and Livorno. There are about no listings in the USA, and 7 records on Ellis Island. It might be a singulare feminine of the original Salemme.

Alphabetical Index

[ Ab ] [ An ] [ B ] [ C ] [ Da ] [ De ] [ Dia ] [ Din ] [ Do ] [ E ] [ F ] [ G ] [ I ] [ J ] [ L ] [ M ] [ N ] [ O ] [ P ] [ Q ] [ R ] [ S ] [ T ] [ U ] [ V ] [ Z ]

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