Milani

History & Origin

Milan — Milano in Italian — has been the dominant city of northern Italy for two thousand years. The Romans called it Mediolanum, meaning "in the middle of the plain," and it sat at the heart of the Po Valley, the most agriculturally productive and economically dynamic region in Italy. Under the Empire, Milan was capital of the Western Roman Empire for a period. Under the medieval communes and the Visconti and Sforza dynasties, it was one of the great powers of Italian politics.

As a surname, Milani identifies families who came from Milan — emigrants who moved within Italy and were known by their metropolitan origin, or families in diaspora communities who carried their city's name across the ocean. In a community of Italians where regional and civic identity was everything, being from Milan was a significant marker.

Milan's industrial revolution, which transformed the city in the nineteenth century, sent many Milanese workers to other Italian cities and abroad. The Milani surname is found in the Italian communities of Argentina, the United States, and Brazil, carried by families who left the industrial city for the promises of the New World.

Today, Milan is Italy's fashion and financial capital, and the Milani name carries associations of elegance, sophistication, and commercial ambition — the qualities the city has always projected.

In the Diaspora

To carry the Milani surname is to be identified with Italy's most cosmopolitan city — the fashion capital, the financial centre, the home of the Duomo and of Leonardo's Last Supper. It is a name that announces urban sophistication and northern Italian pride.

Spelling Variants

The Milani surname appears in various forms across Italy and its diaspora:

• Milanese
• Milano
• Di Milano
• Del Milano