In Reply to: De Santis surname history posted by Valentino Desantis on 12/22/02 at 1:15 PM:
Desantis and DeSanctis are Latin and mean "of the saints." The pre-Vatican II sacramentary (altar book) listed "De Sanctis" or litany of the saints. The spellings are not consistent. In the case of the "DeSanctis" family our roots can be traced back to long before the Renaissance; supposedly there was a man who was proposed for sainthood; there was a book written about his process called The Devil's Advocate. The man was obscure and whether or not he has been canonized, I do not know. There was also a Renaissance artist named DeSanctis who evidently painted at the Vatican; I've seen his work and can attest that, even without a background in art, it is awful! By the way, many names were changed or misspelled when Italians came to the US through Ellis Island which occasionally accounts for variations, i.e., Desantis,/DeSanctis/deSanctis, e.g.This is pretty much what I know.
Father Albert