I have translated it from Italian, and added some of my own "nciurii" , shown in red italics, and have included some thoughts afterwards.

Ancient Sicilian tradition gave great importance to nicknames; "nciurii", or "insults" as they were called in Sicilian.

Their origin is lost in the mists of time; they often stemmed from the place of origin of a person or his work, or a physical characteristic or his attitude, or the names of animals and things, or are a form of onomatopoeia ... . sometimes they are words or expressions difficult to relate to something concrete, and meaningless (at least for those of our era).

The nciurii have always been part of Sicilian culture and have always been widely used, especially in small towns where people are known more by their nciuria than by their surname. Alas, however, to call a person directly by his nciuria, great offenses and bloody fights could break out. In fact, while in other civilizations, the nickname was often used to glorify a character or to distinguish him through homonyms (Example: Alessandro "Magno", or "the Great"; Frederick "Barbarossa", or Redbeard"), in the Sicilian culture, "nciuria" means "insult, offense," even when there may be nothing offensive in the inherent meaning of the word.

When without knowing it, a person (usually a non-local) addresses another by his nciuria instead of his surname, instantly a chilling silence occurs among all those present, followed sometimes by some clumsy attempt at an explanation and often by great offenses or disputes ...... and this, especially in small towns ... even today!!! ......

However, the fact is that these "nciurii" can be duly declined in masculine, feminine and plural forms, and, preceded by the articles "lu" (masculine "the") for men, "la" for females and "li" for the plural, were often automatically extended to whole branches of the family and handed down from father to son.

Today some of them, Italianized, have become second surnames, officially recorded at the registry, and serve to distinguish the various branches of an ancient family, or have even become surnames themselves.

For example, Petru Fuddruni, if I remember correctly, is the nickname of a character in the popular Sicilian narrative, a kind of "stooge".

Well, his nciuria, duly Italianized as "Fullone", is now often officially recorded in registry offices, like a second surname.

One last thing: we generally talk of nciurii as something outdated, an ancient custom: nothing could be more wrong!

The tradition of nciurii is still active and thriving on our beautiful island [and even in in Sicilian American communities]!

How else to explain nicknames such as: "Charlie the Hat", "Joe Nerves" or "Sammy the Horse"?

 

  

Here is a list of ncurii, many of them suggested by facebook friends, in fact I apologize for not having entered all ... but it would take an encyclopedia:

  

Nciurii derived from actual or inferred place of origin*:

Barese (from Bari)

Canicattinisi (from Canicattì)

Cataluchisi (from Cattolica Eraclea)

Dunnera (d'unni era?, where was he from?), a person of dubious origin

Favarisi (from Favara)

Marinisi (from Porto Empedocle)

Napolitano (from Napoli)

Romanina (from Roma)

Tripolitano (from Tripoli)

Tirminisi (from Termini Imerese)

* Note: 'Place of origin' nciurii did not necessarily mean that the person was from that place.  It might mean that he/she had the mannerisms, speech patterns, or physical appearance (real or imagined) of someone from that place.  Such surnames also were commonly given to foundlings to indicate that they were from 'somewhere else', that is, out of wedlock.
  

On the job:

Annaca li Rocchi (rock the stones) = mason

Avvucaticchiu (lentil lawyer) = Lawyer who works for peanuts

Babbaluciaru = seller of snails

Baruni = Baron

Carnaru (meat man) = carnezziere, butcher

Chiavitteri = one who works the keys

Ciuraru or sciuraru = florist

Azzusaru = Gazzusaru or seller of gas

Gnuri = coachman

Lampiunaru = lamplighter (who lit and extinguished streetlamps)

Mammanu (Breast man) = obstetrician

Pignataru = potter, tinker

Puparu = puppeteer, puppeteer

Pusteri = Postman

Sangunaru (Blood man) = pudding seller

Siggiara (Chair lady) = keeper of the chairs of the church

Stagnataru (Lead man)= tinker

Stigghiularu = vendor of stigghiole (roasted entrails)

Stratunaru (Road man) = maintenaner of roads

Stuppacannola (unplug drain)= plumber

Suriotu = usurer

Vardiddraru = maker of harnesses for the pack animals

  

From physical characteristics or attitudes:

Babbu funnutu = completely stupid

Baggiana = foolish woman

Biunnu = blond