Etymology and history
Etymologically, this surname is thought to derive from Latin expositus (Italian esposto, Old Italian or dialect esposito), which is the past participle of the Latin verb exponere ("to place outside", "to expose") and literally means "placed outside", "exposed".[4] In accordance with the original Latin form, the name is correctly pronounced stressing the antepenultimate syllable (i.e. [eˈspɔːzito]); however, it is common among English-speakers to mispronounce it as /ˌɛspəˈziːtoʊ/ ESP-ə-ZEE-toh, placing the stress on the penultimate.
Italian tradition claims that the surname was given to foundlings who were abandoned or placed for adoption and handed over to an orphanage (an Ospizio degli esposti in Italian, literally a "home or hospice of the exposed").[5] They were called espositi because they would be abandoned and "exposed" in a public place. Some orphanages maintained a so-called Ruota degli esposti (English: "Wheel of the exposed") where abandoned children could be placed. After the unification of Italy, laws were introduced forbidding the practice of giving surnames that reflected a child's origins. A crude meaning is bastard or out of wedlock child.
As a surname, Esposito has produced a number of variants throughout modern Italy, such as D'Esposito, Degli Esposti, Esposti, Esposto, Sposito, etc. Other variants are also found in the Spanish-speaking world, for example Expósito.
