Accurso (person)

The Italian family name Accurso is classified as being of personal name origin. According to scholars the "oldest and most persuasive type of surname is that derived from a given name." Such family names may be derived from a parental first name or the font name of the grandmother or indeed a more remote ancestor of the original bearer of the surname. With regard to the family name Accurso, its origin derives from the medieval personal name Accorso, taken from the Old Italian "accorso," meaning "help." However, the author Emidio De Felice states that Accorso may also represent an abbreviated form of the name Bonaccorso, composed of the above mentioned term "accorso," preceded by "bon," which means "good." According to De Felice, the name Bonaccorso was typically bestowed upon a son who was born after the loss of a previous child with the hope that he would be a "good help" to the family.

Variants of the surname Accurso include Accorso, D'Accurso and Accursio. One of the earliest references to this name or to a variant is a record of one Mariangelo Accursio (1490 - 1535,) a scholar. Nineteenth century records from Lanciano (Chieti) mention the marriage of Giovanni Pietro Agnello Accurso and Irene Alba Giancristofaro, celebrated on February 20th, 1862. Evidence of the existence of the surname in America is substantiated by the "Italians in America," which notes that Vito Accurso arrived in New York on May 31st, 1888 aboard the "Assyria," which sailed from Gibralter and Naples. However, the name could have first been introduced there at an earlier date. Other bearers of this name who emigrated to the United States include Francesco Accurso, listed as a passenger aboard the "Victoria," which arrived in New York on August 25th, 1890.