Innocenti Family History

Italian:: patronymic or plural form of the personal name Innocente (see Innocent and 2 below). from innocente ‘innocent’ (from Latin innocens literally ‘not harming’).

This was used as a nickname for a simpleton following the Christian notion that simpletons like children were incapable of doing evil.

This surname is found principally in Tuscany and neighboring regions and is extremely common in Florence where it was given as a surname to the foundlings received into the Spedale degli Innocenti an orphanage established in the 15th century.