Genova Family History

Italian: habitational name from Genoa (Italian Genova) in Liguria which during the Middle Ages was one of the great seaports of the Mediterranean and a flourishing mercantile and financial center.

The origin of the name of the city is uncertain. It has been associated with Latin janua ‘door’ but is more probably of pre-Roman origin.

The surname in its various forms is distributed throughout southern Italy, Genova and Genovese being particularly common in Calabria and Sicily.