Updated January 17, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Italian : from abate ‘priest’ (from Late Latin abbas ‘priest’, genitive abbatis). The application is uncertain: it could be a nickname, an occupational name for the servant of a priest, or denote an (illegitimate) son of a priest.
  • Jewish (from Italy) : either a name indicating descent from a high priest, a calque on Hebrew Cohen, or an occupational name for a rabbi.