do you have an Italian surname in your family tree then you'll want to join me
today on the ancestral findings podcast to learn more about the
history and meaning of Italian surnames this information will help your family
history research be more meaningful vibrant and interesting to you and your defendants
[Music] if you have Italian ancestry you are not alone there are tens of millions of
people possibly more in the United States who have Italian ancestors and even more in other
parts of the world especially Italy itself the Italian language is a rich and descriptive one
and it has as one might expect equally rich and descriptive and sometimes just plain intriguing
surnames knowing the history and meaning of your own Italian surname or that of an ancestor can
tell you a lot about that particular branch of your family tree even going back to ancient times
here are the most important things you need to know about Italian surnames and their meanings
the first names of the parents were the first surnames like much of Europe the first names
of the parents were the earliest form of surnames that were used in Italy also as in most of Europe
the first use of surnames began in the Middle Ages before that people only had a first name and that
was all as villages became larger towns and cities and people began moving from the villages where
their ancestors had lived for centuries usually in search of employment marriage partners or land
that was available to buy in farm surnames became an important way to distinguish between people
with the same first name who might not be known to everyone in their community using the first
name of their parent as a surname was logical when villages became larger but before people started
moving out of their ancestral homes calling someone by their first name followed by son
of or daughter of just made sense everyone or most people in the village probably knew the parent but
with a larger population that included more than one child with the same first name distinguishing
them by the first name of their parent was a good way to keep all the kids with the same first name
straight della and D mean Sunna in Italian so Pietro D Franco or Anthony della Marco
mean Peter son of Francis and Anthony son of Marc many Italian surnames still use della and D but a
lot of patronymic and metronomic surnames have also evolved to just end in Oh such as Franco
and Marciano they still means son of place names were another early form of surnames when people
began to move out of their ancestral villages stating their place of origin to people in their
own town city or village was a way for them to distinguish themselves from others living there
who had their same first name it also established a level of trust as most people would at least be
familiar with the name of the place of origin of an individual even if they had never been
there they might even know other people from that place so stating your original home told
your new neighbors you were who you claim to be Leonardo da Vinci is an excellent example
of someone with an early geography-based surname as da Vinci means from Vinci and Leonardo was in
fact born quite near the town of Vinci in Italy names have started with da or D indicated from
and still do they are is o is a good example of this type of use surnames ending with Ino ah no
and si are also from surnames for example Veroni si means from Verona a geographic surname might
be a more general Italian word as well such as Costa which is a popular Italian surname
and means the coast trade names were literally surnames using one's trade is one surname was a
popular way of choosing a surname in the Middle Ages in most European nations and Italy was no
exception especially when someone moved to a new town or city distinguishing one self by
declaring one's trade as one surname let others know to come to you for that service or product
it was an excellent way to get new customers in a new place as an example hat makers were called
capillary and wool merchants were called Lennar oh if someone was of the nobility or a high-ranking
church official they sometimes took on a surname to reflect that status such as Conte for a count
or Cardinal for a cardinal your ancestors surname may be influenced by regional dialect Italy was
not always a unified country and its many regions each had their own unique dialect this dialect may
be reflected in the surname your ancestor chose the Florentine dialect which is the official
Italian language used today was not adopted until 1861 you might have a Sardinian surname
which usually ends in the letter you like soru or need you if your Italian surname begins with an S
plus another consonant it probably originated in Friuli Sbarro as in the famous pizza chain is a
good example of this and surnames starting with M or in usually come from Palermo personal details
like physical descriptions sometimes became surnames if someone had a really distinguishing
physical characteristic it might have been used by others to describe that person becoming a de
facto nickname and eventually a family surname names like Biondi and Ricci describe hair blond
and curly in these instances personality traits made their way to surnames as well someone who was
talkative may have been referred to as shakeela while a cunning person would be called Volpe
which means fox in fact the most common surname in Italy today is a descriptive one the name is Rossi
and it describes someone with red hair it has another variant in Italy that means the same thing
Rousseau while Rossi is the most common surname in Italy the Risso variant is the most common
Italian surname in the United States once you know a little bit about Italian surnames in their
history and meaning you will find your Italian family history research to be much more rewarding
and meaningful you will also know a little bit more about your ancient Italian ancestors as well
[Music] he was the youngest soldier to serve in the Union during the Civil War becoming a drummer
boy at only ten years old he was also the youngest noncommissioned officer in US military history he
made a lifelong career out of the army join me next time on the ancestral findings podcast to
learn more about this remarkable young boy thanks for joining me today I'll see you next time on
the ancestral findings podcast and for further info you can visit us at ancestral findings com