Ferrante

Ferrante is an Italian surname and given name. It is most commonly found in southern Italy and among Italian communities abroad, reflecting historical patterns of migration and settlement.

The name is best known today through Elena Ferrante, the pen name of a contemporary Italian novelist whose identity has remained publicly unconfirmed. Elena Ferrante is the author of the Neapolitan Novels, a widely acclaimed series that explores friendship, family, and social change in Naples during the 20th century. Her work has been translated into numerous languages and has sparked extensive literary discussion worldwide.

Beyond this contemporary figure, Ferrante appears in historical and contemporary records as a family name across various professions and regions. As a given name, it is much less common in modern use but has appeared in Italian naming traditions over the centuries. The surname Ferrante is also present among Italian diaspora communities in Europe, the Americas, and Australia, a product of significant waves of emigration from Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries.