Hello -- I am trying to work-out the relationship among these surnames. Obviously there is the high aristocratic family Ruffo di Calabria But there are also in Calabria, especially in Vibo Valentia, such surnames as Ruffa and LaRuffa. Does anybody here know the history of these names, how one name ...

I believe that Jeri71 is confusing Tropea in the province of Vibo Valentia in Calabrai for Trupani/Tropani in Sicily. There are many LaRuffa's in Tropea and in the hills overlooking Tropea, and also a great many LaRuffa's slightly further south in the plain of Gioia Tauro