Geographic distribution

Comparison of the geographic distribution of the surnames Puccio and Puzio in modern Italy

The following comparison is based on current distribution maps of Italian surnames provided by the online database Mappa dei Cognomi (www.mappadeicognomi.it). This resource aggregates official data on surname incidence across Italian municipalities, offering a reliable snapshot of geographic prevalence as of recent years. 

This comparison is an Annex to an article about the ethymology of the surname Puzio, that can be found here.

Distribution of the Surname Puccio

The surname Puccio is relatively widespread throughout Italy, appearing in 316 municipalities. Its highest concentrations are in southern regions, particularly Sicily, Calabria, and Campania, with notable presence also in central and northern areas. This broad distribution reflects the historical mobility of the name across the peninsula and aligns with its origins as a common diminutive of Jacopo/Giacomo.

Distribution of the Surname Puzio

In contrast, the surname Puzio is significantly rarer and far more geographically concentrated, recorded in only 56 municipalities. The vast majority of occurrences are clustered in a specific area of Campania, particularly around the province of Naples and adjacent zones. Isolated instances appear elsewhere, but the core density is unmistakably tied to the Neapolitan region.

Puzio surname in Campania

A pattern emerges when comparing the two maps: while Puccio maintains strong presence across Italy, the immediate Neapolitan area shows a clear dominance of the variant Puzio. In this specific dialectal zone, Puzio effectively supplants Puccio as the prevailing form.

This geographic divergence provides strong visual presentation of the phonetic evolution previously discussed. The Neapolitan dialect’s characteristic lenition—softening or shifting the “c” sound in Puccio to “z” or “ts”—appears to have led to the local standardization of Puzio, while the original Puccio persisted in surrounding regions and beyond.