AMBROSIO
Ambrosio is a surname of Italian and Latin origin, ultimately deriving from the ancient Greek personal name Ambrosios, which means "immortal" or "divine". The Latin form of the name, Ambrosius, was adopted by early Christian communities and became a popular source of patronymic surnames, signalling descent from an ancestor named Ambrosius.
The earliest recorded bearer of the name was Saint Ambrose (c. 340–394), the bishop of Milan, whose influence in the early Church contributed to the name's widespread use throughout medieval Europe. The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 and later in 1168 county charters of Norfolk, indicating that it had come into use as a personal name in England by the 11th century. The surname itself first appears in English records in the 13th century; the earliest example is that of Henrie Ambroys dated 1273 in the Hundred Rolls for Bedfordshire, during the reign of King Edward I, known as “The Hammer of the Scots” (1272–1302).
By the 14th and 16th centuries the surname had spread across Europe. Examples include William Ambroys of Sussex in 1332 and Johann Ambrosius of Franken in 1525. An unusual 18th‑century record from London, dated 1729, names a woman called Ambrosia Ambrose, who was married at St. George’s Chapel, Hanover Square.
In contemporary times the surname is found predominantly in Italy and in communities of Italian diaspora. Migration during the 19th and 20th centuries brought the name to the United States, Argentina, Brazil and other South American nations, where sizeable Italian communities settled. It is also present in Spain, Portugal and their former colonies, reflecting the adaptation of the Latin name into Spanish and Portuguese forms.
Variants of the surname Ambrosio are numerous and reflect linguistic and regional adjustments. Common spellings include D’Ambrosio, Dambrosio, Ambrosi, Ambrogi, Ambrogio, Emborg, Emborgo, Ambrus, Ambroz, Ambrózy and Ambrosovich. In Greek the surname appears as Ambrosiadis or Ambroziadis, in French as Ambroise or Ambroix, and in English simply as Ambrose. In Eastern Europe, forms such as Ambróz, Ambrož or Ambrože occur; Russian equivalents include patronymics like Ambrosovich or Ambrosova, derived from the given name Ambrosiy.
The surname is also associated with contemporary public figures; for instance, the Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio, whose family heritage includes Italian and Polish ancestry, has increased international recognition of the name.
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Ambrosio in...
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There are approximately 111 people named Ambrosio in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around two in a million people in Britain are named Ambrosio.
