Albitio

It is documented in Tuscany (Italy) from the 10th-century in the Latinized forms Albitho and Albitio and, from the 13h-century, as Albizius. It is a rare name attested only in Tuscany. The name is of Germanic origin and is quite likely to come from the element “*albiz,” meaning “elf, sprite, fairy, supernatural being” or from “*aþalaz,” meaning “noble, nobleman, aristocratic, eminent, glorious, excellent.” The second element could be “*friþuz,” meaning (peace, tranquility, friendship). In turn, the original name could be “Albfrid or Adalfrid.” The Albizzi family was a Florentine family-based initially in Arezzo, which was rivals of the Medici and Alberti families. They were at the center of Florentine oligarchy from 1382, in the reaction that followed the Ciompi revolt, to the rise of the Medici in 1434.