It is indeed not surprising that one of the first Western European countries, after the fall of the Roman Empire, to institute hereditary surnames was Italy. There is documentary evidence to show that hereditary names were employed among the patricians of the Republic of Venice in the tenth and eleventh centuries. As among the Romans, where a gens-name, derived from the founder of the family-tree was added to the praenomen, or first name, so too among the Venetians the "cognomen" a "family name was derived from a name applied to an ancestor. This name was itself derived from a number of very diverse sources.

The Italian surname Bernabe, and its variants Barnabo, Barnaba, Barna, Barnabeo, Barnabucci and barnacchi, is of patronymic origin, that is, belonging to the category of surnames derived from the first name of the father of the initial bearer. In this instance, the name indicates "son of Barnabei", na Italian from of Barbnabas. The personal name Barnabas is derived from the Latin "Barnabas" which in turn comes from the Aramaic "barnebh’ah", a contraction of "bar", meaning "son", and "nabia", meaning "prophesy", and "nehama", meaning "consolation". In the Bible Barnabas was a Levite and Cyprian by race, and a companion of the Apostle Paul in his missionary journeys Cyprus and the cities of Asia Minor.