 The surname Galilei derives from the given name of an ancestor , Galileo Bonaiuti , a physician , university teacher and politician who lived in Florence from 1370 to 1450 ; his descendents had changed their family name from Bonaiuti ( or <unk> ) to Galilei in his honor in the late 14th century . Galileo Bonaiuti was buried in the same church , the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence , where about 200 years later his more famous descendant Galileo Galilei was also buried . 
