Re: any fanaro in US or out of Italy?
In Reply to: any fanaro in US or out of Italy? posted by fanaro on January 11, 2005 at 01:01:49:
How far back have you gone with this? Does FANARO show up in Italy or are you researching the US? I ask because it is possible that the actual surname when spoken by an Italian but heard by an English speaker's ears got recorded as you have it when it is actually NOT FANARO in Italy.
FANARO is one of the variations I've seen listed for my family's surname FORNARO. And certainly, one of the various verbal manglings of FORNARO I've heard in my lifetime by folks of non-Italian ancestry. It could even be a US regional mispronounciation of FORNARO that got recorded as FANARO. I live in an area where the "r's" in a word are usually not pronounced. FORNARO is often spoken as FANARO. We are infamous in this area of the US for "Pocking the cah" aka "Parking the car".
As of yesterday when I was searching around on ellisisland.org, I always thought that the town of origin for my FORNAROs was ITRI in Latina, Lazio. My aunts and uncles always said Itri. Itri is entered on my grandfather's death certificate as place of birth for both of his parents as well as for him. However, as we all soon discover, the information on a DC is only as accurate as the knowledge of the person giving the information. Unfortunately, none of the aunts, uncles or even some of the older first cousins, all of whom might have known more, are alive to question.
Yesterday, while searching some of the name varients of FORNARO on the Ellis site, I noticed individuals listed as being from ATRI. Could this be Itri as heard by a non Italian speaker? Further digging revealed that 1. There is a town Atri in Abruzzo and 2. FORNARO can be found in Abruzzo.
I'm still considering Itri, Latina, Lazio as the place of origin for my FORNAROs because of the evidence I have supporting Itri. But past experience researching other of my ancestral lines has taught me that just because the family says something IS doesn't necessarily make it SO. For that reason, I'm also starting to explore the Abruzzo Provence just on the off chance that everyone had it wrong all these years.
Have you encountered FORNARO, DI VONA, CANNELLA or CAVALLARO? The first three are definately my family. For the last surname there is some sort of connection to my family but I haven't yet discovered what the connection is. Current email: miyukichannospam0987@yahoo.com ... just take out the "nospam" before mailing me.