Surname Spellings: Italian vs. Sicilian

When researching church records that go all the way back to the 1500s, sometimes you will see surnames that seem similar to names that are used today. The spellings can vary significantly or sometimes, just by a letter or two. The spellings probably changed because they were written phonetically or because of the handwriting style. Here is a list of surname names that you may encounter in and around the area of Carini, Sicily, Italy. It is not a complete list so if you know of more, please let me know so I included the surnames and update the list.

And remember, you might find a surname with "d apostrophe" vs "di". Here are a couple examples:

• di Amato / d'Amato or Amato
• di Messina or Messina

One last note about the different spelling of surnames, I suggest if you are doing genealogy and are building a family tree, use the surname that the person had at the time of their birth. I take the surname directly from the civil birth record and if there is no civil record, then I use the church baptism record. If I find the surname changed during their lifetime, then I make note of it and add that particular spelling as an "alternate surname" in the genealogy family tree software.

 

Italian Surname	Sicilian Surname	Prefix Information
Alamia	La Lamia
Aluia	La Luia
Badalà	Mandalà
Badalamenti	Badaramenti
Baiata	Bajada
Buffa	Bua
Caldarone	Calderone
Cangialosi	Congialosi
Cavoli	Li Cauli
Collura	Collurafici
Costantino / Constantino	Cosntino
Cusimano	Cusumano
Ferranti	Ferrante
Giacopello	Jacopello
Grigoli / Gregoli	Gregorio	Prefix can include "di"
Gritti	Grippi
Guercio	Guercia
Inzone / Insone	Izzuni
Ladragna	Adragna
Mansella	Manzella
Marchese	Maltese
Mauceri	Morici
Messeri	Misseri	Prefix can include "Lo" or "Lu"
Mini	Mineo
Monterusso	Monterosso
Ruffino	Roffino
Ruggeri	Ruggieri
Russo	Rosso	Prefix can include "Lo" or "Lu"
Sansone	Sanzone
Scannaliato	Scannariato
Scavo	Schiavo
Spatula	Spatola
Zerillo	Zirillo

The Meaning of Misseri and the history behind the surname

The following details have been translated from the Facebook group, "ORIGINE DEI COGNOMI ITALIANI" which posted the details about the Misseri surname on 3 July 2017. 

Misseri appears to be Sicilian, with a lineage in Palermo and Carini (PA), and a secondary lineage in Rosolino and Pachino in the Siracusa area of Sicily, with presences in Puglia and Tuscany. It is thought to derive from the term "messere" and its dialectal modifications. In the late Middle Ages, this term was used to identify individuals who held prominent positions such as notaries, judges, and doctors, or wealthy landowners.

Before you read any further, our surname was originally "Lo Misseri" from about the late 1400s to the middle 1700s. Might find a few instances even into the 1780s. After that the "Lo" was dropped because it was probably just easier to write "Misseri." I've looked at enough records from the town of Carini and the area around it, to know that many names morphed over time and one of my guesses for the reason why, is because paper was at such a premium. They were trying to write as much as they could on as little paper as possible, and if that meant dropping a few letters here or there, it probably made it easier for the priest who was keeping the records. And I just want to make it clear, that at this point in history, I have found no evidence that links the two groups of Misseri's in Sicily together. There have been no DNA connections what-so-ever with anyone from the Siracusa area. And there are many Misseri's from the Siracusa area that live in and around the state of Connecticut in the United States. 

WHOSE SON ARE YOU? LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PATRONYMIC PARTICLES DI, DE, LO, LA, ETC.

In Italy, surnames didn't all originate at the same time: for centuries, people were identified by their father's name, nicknames, professions, etc. Hence the patronymic surnames, those that embody the memory of an ancestor, with the patronymic particle that we often confuse as a feudal predicate, thinking it conveys a certain nobility... almost always nonexistent!

Their function is precisely patronymic or origin, therefore "son of" or "coming from".

Here are some of the most common particles:

🔹 Di/De/D'

It means "son of" or "descendant of" or even "those of".

Di Marco, Di Stefano, De Luca, De Angelis, D'Amico, D'Andrea, D'Antonio, D'Elia, etc.

🔹 Da/Dal/Dalla/Della/Del

More typical of the North, with exceptions such as Del, they could indicate geographic origin or affiliation.

Dal Maso (from the Master), Dalla Chiesa, Da Vinci, Dalla Libera, Della Zanna, Del Carlo, etc.

🔹 Lo/La/Li

In the South, separate particles are found, always with the same function, such as:

Lo → Lo Monaco, Lo Russo, Lo Verde, Lo Misseri

La → La Rocca, La Spina, La Porta

Li → Li Vecchi, Li Voti, Li Causi

These particles derive from the Latin ("ille", "illa") and have been preserved in dialect, becoming true surnames.

Curiosity

Sometimes the particles have been dropped due to errors or simplifications: Di Marco → Marco or Di Federico → Federico

In other cases, they have been transformed by being added to the surname, as often happens with Apulian, Lucanian, and Sicilian surnames: De Luca → Deluca, De Vito → Devito, etc.

Thanks for staying with me regarding this little bit long article. AND thanks to the wonderful ORIGINE DEI COGNOMI ITALIANI" Facebook group.

Calendar Month's as Surnames

I am still plugging away and researching the records from Grumo Appula in Bari. I have noticed an interesting thing the clerk or town official who was registering the births of foundlings (babies usually left at the church because the mother decided she could or would not care for the newborn child).

The clerk or town official gave a surname of the month the baby was born in; for example, in 1839, two babies were given the following surnames: Aprile and Ottobre.

• Luigi Aprile, born on 12 April 1839, record #79
• Florinta Ottobre, born on 25 October 1839, record #174

Foundlings are usually given unique names that set them apart from the rest of the local community. But, in all my time of researching various records, I have not come across the names of calendar months being used as surnames.