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Italian Names & the History of Names

This is a good guide to Italian Personal Names and the History of Italian Surnames. Give your baby an Italian name. Here you will find a good list of Italian Given Names and the History of Names from Italy, Latin Origins, and Onomastics in General.   Search for your Family Name on various Italian Surname Distribution Maps and Surname Databases.

• Italian Naming Traditions - a strong custom in Italy that determines how children are named.
• Italy Surname Distribution Map - Graphically displays your Italian Surname request on a map of Italy, sometimes called an Italian Genealogy Map. Enter a last name & see where people with that surname appear in Italy & Sicily 
• Everybody has a name / Tutti hanno un nome
• Pagine Bianche Italian Phone Book - Italian White Pages extensive listings of Surnames in EACH Comune.
• InfoSpace People Finder - find people with your Italian surname in the USA.
• Worldwide People Search by Infospace - in case you have trouble locating your surname in the Italy lookup see what turns up worldwide on your surname or use this link: Infospace/World.
• Distribution of your Surname from the USA Census Database - Enter a surname into the form & you'll get a map of the USA showing the distribution of people with this surname per each census year. 
• PlacesNamed.com Surname Statistics - In the Search Box on the UPPER left hand side of the page - use their "Go to" Search to find out the frequency found and other statistics on your Last Name in the USA.
• Search for how many people in the U.S. have your name &/or surname - The USA Census Bureau statistics tell us that there are at least 88,799 different last names and 5,163 different first names in common use in the United States.
• L'origine dei cognomi - Origin & meaning of your surname. Delightful site. Click on the initial at the top of page and find a description of your surname. Use translation sites if you don't read Italian.
• Italian Surnames - Ethymology and Origin of the Surname also called the Family Name
• Common prefixes of Italian surnames.   Prefixes like da, di, lo, le etc. (ex. Di Caprio) and where they come from.
• Straight Dope: On Italian last names beginning with "de," "del," or "della" a classic response from Cecil Adams - "Don't get your hopes up, your lordship... more often the prefix is merely the equivalent of the Irish Mac or O, the English suffix -son (e.g., Johnson), or the Norman-French Fitz... it indicates descent, as in de Stefano, "son of Steven."
• Why was America named after Amerigo Vespucci? - by Cecil Adams
• NAMES, PERSONAL from LDS - Understanding surnames & given names can help you find and identify your ancestors in the records from the Mormons Italy Research Guide.
• Is Your Name Here ? - Family Name Finder-Search for a Free preview of your Family Name History. (some Italian Surnames included) included here "for fun" only.
• Yet another family crest lookup - do NOT pay any of these heraldry people ..if you are Blue-Blood...you already know it, the crest, lineage and other trappings were already given to you by the time you were 10 years old AND you were the first born male in the noble family.  Just look up your surname for "FUN".
• A Brief Introduction to the History of Names - © 1997 Kristine Elliott
• Family name or Surname - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• The origin of surnames - written by Jean Tosti for GeneaNet discusses: Personal names, Names based on trades, Nicknames, and Geographical & topographic names. This applies to surnames for all of what was originally Latin speaking Europe.
• The History of Family Names - Patronymics, Place Names, Occupational names, Nicknames and other background information on names in general.
• Origins and Meanings of Names -very scholarly presentation by Lionel E. Mayrand.
• Italian Names History Part One and 
• Italian nicknames - "soprannomi" which literally means "above the name" by Claudia Mazzoni
• Nicknames in Italian-American Culture - by Sharon Leggio
• Changing Immigrant Names - "We know from experience that records of entry of many aliens into the United States contain assumed or incorrect names and other errors."
• Why was my ancestor's name changed during Immigration? - #22 from PIE FAQs
• "What's In A Name" - interesting, personal story by Andrea Bacigalupa.
• Gens Labo Dictionary of Italian Names - in Italian (Use translation sites if you don't read Italian or ask on the Message Board & sometimes an Italian Speaker has time to answer.
• Significato dei nomi propri di persona - How to spell Italian First Names from L' onomastica. In Italian. (Use translation sites if you don't read Italian.)
• Onomastica: Significato dei nomi propri di persona - the meaning of over 2,900 names in Italian. 
• L'Origine dei Nomi - find your name in the database (click the initial at the top) lots of popups so use a blocker or disable scripts and activeX.
• Behind the Name: Italian Names - Italian Names listed here are used in Italy and other Italian-speaking regions. The site has a good search engine for all names you might want to do a search.
• Tell me your name - the meaning of Italian & Sicilian names by Angelo e Mario Grifasi
• Italian First Name Translator - many Italian immigrants changed their first names when they came to this country. If you don't find your ancestors name it's because only typical names are in the database so keep researching and also look in other places.
• Italian Given Names and their English Equivelents compiled by Ken Johnston who lists the references he used in compiling the list with special thanks to Marie Roth from PIE.
• English Versions of Italian Names - DOWNLOAD .pdf and/or also text versions of English and Italian names translated into Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Slovak, Russian & Yiddish Foreign Names.
• Look up the Translation of your name in Italian & Latin - also on Italian Genealogy Occupations Lists using the translation links page of this web site.
• ITALIAN BABY NAMES - From Michael San Filippo. He put up a good list & also a pronunciation guide to the names
• Male Italian names - good if you are looking for a name for your new baby boy or the meaning of your given name or an ancestors name.
• Female Italian names - good if you are looking for a name for your new baby girl or the meaning of your given name or an ancestors name.
• Baby Names From Around the World | Italian - from Baby Zone.
• Baby Names Finder - Go to "Advanced Baby Names Search" in Category choose: ITALIAN, gender, starting letter and more...
• Huge List of Ancient & Modern Italian Names - Everything you want to know about Italian Given Names by Steve Russo from the COMUNES OF ITALY archives: June 2000, week 4 (#225)
• Rare Given Names in Early Italian Records - not all Italian given names have religious or classical roots. Many names encountered in older records are almost whimsical, and some cannot be translated into Latin or any other language by Louis Mendola
• Italian Names & Surnames - A historical Perspective - overview of the history of Italian Names plus their origins. Includes lists of the Popes and Rulers of Italy from a collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. © January 1997. also see: Italian Surnames - come from many sources. For example, those of Sicily include Arabic, Norman, French (Angevin), Austrian (Bourbon) and Spanish.
• Roman Nomenclature - Naming of Male Roman Citizens during the Republic.
• The Latinization of Names in the Middle Ages - on overview of personal names, surnames and place names
• 4300 Citizen of Pisa, 1228, by Enrica Salvatori - A transcription of men's Latin names from an alliance signed in 1228. 
• Italian Given Names and Surnames - from the Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532 a project of Brown University, Rhode Island.
• Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century - These names appear in a tax roll of the city of Perugia taken in 1285.
• Masculine Names from Thirteenth Century Pisa by Juliana de Luna (Julia Smith) 
• Family names appearing in the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427 - from the database of tax information for the city of Florence in 1427-1429 (c. 10,000 records) based on David Herlihy and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Principal Investigators, Census and Property Survey of Florentine Dominions in the Province of Tuscany, 1427-1480 presented by Brown University.
• Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427, by Josh Mittleman
• Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names, by Josh Mittleman and Brian Scott (Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek).
• Fifteenth Century Venetian Masculine Names - Family Names Alphabetically by Sara L. Uckelman
• First names from Florence, 1427 from the Online Catasto of 1427. Detailed analysis of over 8,000 names
• Italian Renaissance Men's Names - by Ferrante LaVolpe over 8000 men's names from the Catasto (census) of Florence taken in the years 1427-1429 
• Italian Renaissance Women's Names  by Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Vale (Jo Lori Drake)
• 15th Century Italian Men's Names by Brian Scott (Talan Gwynek)
• Mercator's Place Names of Italy in 1554 - by Maridonna Benvenuti (Andrea Hicks) researcher at The Academy of Saint Gabriel.
• Second Surnames, or Sub-Surnames 
• Medieval Slavic Roots of Italian & Sicilian Surnames - information on the medieval Slavs who settled in Arabic-ruled Sicily and southern mainland Italy during the middle ages by Michal Warczakowski. 
• Social Security Administration's Popular Baby Name list - Search through the years to see how things change.. 
• U.S. Census Bureau name List from the 1990 Census - A list of First Names, Last Names and a Search, which shows frequency ranking.
• Italian Occupation Names & other Genealogy Terms - go to the Italian Genealogy and Italian & Latin translations page of this site.  If you are not a native speaker you should use many references when doing translations as it will help you understand the "gist" of it better

 If you have a non-commercial Italian Name list or Website on the History of Italian Surnames or Names from Italy or Sicily send the link to me for consideration

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