Count: 0 — No Italian last names that start with Y were found in authoritative Italian surname records (ISTAT surname lists, major phone directories, and standard etymological dictionaries). Note that this absence reflects a historical and linguistic pattern: the traditional Italian alphabet and naming conventions rarely use Y as an initial, so Y is virtually absent from native Italian family names. Consider this an interesting detail about Italian onomastics: letters like J, K, W, X and Y appear mainly in loanwords and foreign names rather than in old Italian surnames.

Understand the linguistic and historical reasons behind the gap. Italian phonology and medieval orthography did not favor an initial Y sound, and the modern Italian alphabet only incorporates Y for foreign terms. Also understand that most Italian surnames derive from patronymics, occupations, places, or nicknames formed within Romance-language patterns that produce initials like B, C, D, F, L, M, etc., not Y. Consult ISTAT, archival records, and etymological dictionaries and you will see the same lack of native Y-starting entries.

Look for close matches instead of native Y surnames. Find Y at the start of surnames carried into Italy by immigrants, naturalized citizens, or in transliterations from other alphabets; find historical variants where I or J were later transcribed with a Y in foreign sources. When compiling an A–Z list, treat Y as an empty native category and include a brief note about foreign-origin and transliterated names, plus related searches such as surnames beginning with I or J and regional or immigrant surname lists.