Family name origins & meanings
- Southern Italian : from a personal name (Latin Rufus, originally a nickname for someone with red hair, from a dialect form of the standard Latin word rubeus). This name was borne by various minor early saints, and occasionally used as a personal name in the Middle Ages.
- Southern Italian : from a personal name of Germanic origin but uncertain form and meaning. The Calabrian noble family of this name is said to be of Norman origin.