Lo + console: “the consul”
A rare surname built from an Italian article and a Latin title, rooted in Bari.
What it means
Lo is Italian for “the”. Console comes from Latin consul, a high-ranking magistrate: two consuls led the Roman Republic, and in medieval Italy consoli governed towns and merchant guilds.
Like most Italian surnames, it most likely began as a nickname or a title tied to such an office, and became hereditary in the late Middle Ages.
A Bari habit
Around Bari, surnames often fused the article to the name: Lorusso (“the red-haired”), Losacco, Lobascio (“the short one”), Loiacono (“the deacon”), Loiodice (“the judge”).
Linguists link the habit to Norman and French influence in southern Italy, the same pattern as Leroy or Lefèvre. Loconsole belongs to the family of names made from an office: the judge, the deacon, the consul.
Spellings
The same Latin root gave Italy a whole family of surnames. Some are close cousins from the same corner of Puglia; others grew up on their own in Sicily or the north.
- Loconsole
- Lo Console
- Console
- Loconsolo
- Lo Consolo
- Consoli
- Consolo
- Cunsolo
- Di Consolo
- Consolini
- Consolino
Timeline
The family’s own story is still being written. This is the history the name grew out of.
- 509 BCRome’s first consulsBy tradition, the Republic replaces its kings with two consuls elected each year.
- c. 965–1071Byzantine BariBari is the seat of the catepan, the Byzantine governor of southern Italy.
- 1071The Normans take BariRobert Guiscard captures the city; Norman rule leaves its mark on local culture.
- 1100s–1400sSurnames take holdNicknames, trades and titles turn into hereditary family names.
- 1563Parish booksThe Council of Trent requires parishes to record baptisms and marriages.
- 1809Civil recordsThe Kingdom of Naples starts the stato civile in every comune.
- 1880–1920sEmigrationMillions leave southern Italy; some Loconsoles settle in the United States.
- 1950s–70sNorth for workFamilies move to Milan, Turin and other northern cities.
Find your branch
Start with living relatives and family papers: birth, marriage and death certificates often name parents and places.
Then search the Italian State Archives’ Antenati portal, where civil records from 1809 onward are published for the whole province. Records up to 1865 are held by the State Archives at Trani, later ones by the State Archives of Bari. Earlier generations are usually found in parish books.