Naming Customs

Like most countries, naming customs can be confusing to research endeavors in Italy. It is essential to understand name equivalents when preparing to research Italian documents. For example, Lucia may be more easily recognized as Lucy, but Giacomo may be more difficult to recognize as James. Other common name differences include Giuseppe as Joseph, and Giovanni as John.

Surname dictionaries offer one of the few methods for narrowing down potential ancestral origins when an exact village is a mystery. These publications offer origins for a wide variety of Italian surnames, detailing the particular area(s) that the surname was most prominent in. Though this will not always indicate that your own ancestor originated there, the places listed will offer a starting point for researching the various record sources and give an objective to an otherwise often hopeless endeavor. Two such works most often noted are:

DeFelice, Emidio. Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani. Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1978.

Fucilla, Joseph G. Our Italian Surnames. Reprint. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1987.