What is "spero"

Spero is an Italian surname, originating in the Campania region of Italy. It means "I Hope" in Italian and is part of the following Latin proverb: Dum Spiro Spero (While I Breathe, I Hope).

Spero is sometimes a variant of the more common Italian surname Spera.

Spero is also one of the name variants from the first Jews who settled in the city of Speyer, Germany, at the end of the eleventh century (and were compelled to leave in the middle of the fifteenth century). Large numbers of these Jews settled in other parts of Germany, e. g. Frankfurt, in Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, and Russia and their name variants are Shapiro, Spira, Spire, Spiro, Spero, Chapiro, Sprai, Szpir, Saphir, Spear and also Speyer. (Kaganoff, 1977) Source: Saul Zeichner,27 November 2000, Revised 10 April 2009 1 The world champion rower Donald Spero is Jewish.

Category:Surnames Category:Italian-language surnames Category:Jewish surnames