 Names can tell a lot when researching our Italian roots. But there are some names which tell a sadder tale back several generations or so. Orphans and foundlings in Italy were given special names. This list includes the most common surnames used.
Some means of names are pretty obvious: Bastardo... for bastard. Della Femina for From a Woman. Dell'Amore means From Love. All are a testament to those who came before and the trials they must have gone through to get through troubled times of war or poverty or disgrace. Many suffered through the horrors of war or famine. Anyone bearing these Italian surnames should be proud of what their fore-bearers went through to give life to their children and their childrens' children. Although these names do have a high probability of being rooted in an ancestor being orphaned, there are exceptions to this. Amodio (Love God), Arfanetti (Orphan), Armandonada (Donated by Hand) Bardotti (The sterile hybrid offspring of a male horse and a female donkey) Bastardo (Bastard), Circoncisi (Circumcised) Colombini (Little Dove), Dati (from you) De Alteriis (Changling), De Angelis (From Angels) Della Donna (From a Lady), Della Femmina (from a Female) Della Fortuna (from Luck), Della Gioia (From Joy), Della Stella (From a Star) Della Casagrande (of the Hospital/Orphanage) Dell 'Amore (from Love), Dell'Orfano (the Orphan) Del Gaudio (of Grace & Goodness), Diodata (God Diven) D'Amore (Love), D'Ignoto (from Unknown), Diotallevi (God Raised You) Esposto, Esposito, Esposuto (Lost) Fortuna (Luck), Ignotis (Unknown), Incerto (Uncertain) Incognito (Unknown) Innocenti, Innocentini (The Lost Ones) Mulo (Mule), Naturale (Natural/Careless) Nocenti, Nocentini (Little Innocent), Ospizio (Foundling Home) Palma (when child is abandoned on Palm Sunday) Proietti (Thrown/Project), Ritrovato (Discovered) Sposito (Lost), Spurio (Illegitimate) Stellato (The Stars), Trovatello, Trovato (Foundling) Ventura, Venturini (Angels, Little Angels) --Jerry Finzi If you enjoyed this post, please SHARE it and give a LIKE. Grazie.
6 Comments
Rachel Roberts
2/16/2018 05:46:58 am
My ancestral foundling name was Legista, which I thought was strange. He grew up in Caltagirone, Sicily, and I am trying to find out more about him.
Jerry Finzi
2/16/2018 12:35:52 pm
I looked up Legista and it seems to be someone in the legal profession--at least, in Spanish. Perhaps he was given the name because a lawyer handled the foundling? Or he was left at a lawyer's or a court's office instead of an orphanage? Or perhaps a Spanish lawyer was the father?
Jo Inserra
10/10/2018 06:25:34 am
I'm searching for more information about my great grandmother Serafina Electtrico who was born in 1894 in Caltagirone, Sicily.
Jerry F.
10/10/2018 11:21:39 pm
The name sounds made up. The word for Electric in Italian is Elettrico (without the C). There is no such name in Sicily according to the Italian White Pages. There is, however, many families in Sicily with the name Litrico. Perhaps a misspelling somewhere along the way?
Mary Giudici
8/11/2019 01:33:35 pm
I am looking for information on the origins of my great grandfather called Tiziano Triangolo who was a foundling I believe in Bergamo Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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