Degano

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Degano is an Eastern Alpine surname of Germanic-Friulian origin. It is most common in the province of Udine in the Friuli region. The name comes from the Old High German word degan. The earliest written use of degano as a name is in the Hildebrandslied, a Langobardic work written in Old High German with Old Saxon elements around 800 AD. It may also come from the Latin title decanus or from degagna, a Swiss-Alpine territorial division led by a chief.

Degano, meaning Dean in Friulian, is also the name of a river whose source is at 1039 meters above sea level in the Carnic Alps, in the municipality of Forni Avoltri. It can also refer to Val Degano, one of seven valleys in the Carnia region (Friulian: Cjargne).

Notable people with the surname include Paul the Deacon (Paolo Diacono), the Lombard historian who wrote Historia Langobardorum.