52 Ancestors Week 2: Origins

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 2

The theme for Week 2 is "Origins." Genealogists often get the question, "Where is your family from?" With this week's theme, you could explore an immigrant ancestor, but you could also think about the origin of other aspects of your family. Who was the first person in your family to settle in a particular town? If you have a long line of people with the same occupation, talent, etc, who was the first person you know who did it?

Our whole universe was in a hot dense state....

    Truer words were never spoken. Growing up I was always asked "Where is your family from?" "What does your last name mean?" "How do you even PRONOUNCE it?" With a last name like "Ferraiolo", you're bound to get a lot of questions regardless if you're a genealogist or not. There are just so many vowels next to each other along with the "rs" that you have to roll. Ironically, it's not even the most difficult to pronounce last name found in the Calabrian town of San Pietro a Maida where my grandfather Marco was born. Looking at you, Iellamo and Iuele. 

Such an adorable baby. ;)

    Before we delve too deeply into the origin of my last name, let's first discuss how to pronounce it. Thankfully, there's an easy to follow guide on YouTube that I may have put on my profile on WikiTree. Hey. I can put whatever I want on my profile as long as it aheres to the Honor Code. Besides....I have a reputation to uphold.

    Pronouncing "Ferraiolo" is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. The "a" is actually silent and when you look at documents in San Pietro from the early 1800s, you'll find that "Ferraiolo" is spelled without the a and is instead spelled "Ferriolo". Weird, huh?

    Well, today it has many spelling variations like "Ferraiuolo" because we needed to get ALL of the vowels in the alphabet in there! I like to keep things simple and spell it like my father and my grandfather have always spelled the name.

    Right. So, how do you pronounce it? Well, it's like this "Fehr-e-oh-low" as explained in this video. It's not exactly "Rumpelstiltskin". Learning how to pronounce it won't make me disappear or anything. But, it is interesting how several families that came to America changed the name. And no. It wasn't at Ellis Island. Get out of here with that noise.

    For unknown reasons my second great grandfather Marco's brothers, Giovanni and Giuseppe decided to change the family name to "Ferriola". I'm not sure why that is and DNA matches who connect to those two haven't been able to tell me anything about the change. Maybe they changed their names in order to assimilate when they settled in New Jersey and Pennsylvania? Who can say? The secret of the name change sadly died with them.

Vincenzo's just chillin'

    Let's get back on topic, gang. There are actually two definitions of "Ferraiolo" out there. The first being a sort of garment like a cape worn by Cardinals and other members of the clergy. Makes sense. Italy is a predominently Catholic country. So, it would make perfect sense that some last names have religious origins. This next definition makes everything do a complete 180.

    The other definition of "Ferraiolo" is "iron worker".  That's the definition I go with more than anything. It's the one Ancestry and Familysearch give me whenever I check out what my name actually means.

    My father told me a long time ago that it meant "iron worker" and it got me thinking about how it could have come about. Milennia ago last names were originally created based on peoples' jobs, locations or physical characteristics. Could the last name "Ferraiolo" have been started by some blacksmith who lived in what we now call Italy? That's the most likely answer and to date I haven't found any "Ferraiolo" who was a blacksmith.

     Most of the Ferraiolos I have encountered in my travels have been laborers, farmers, seamstresses and at least one midwife. I'm thinking that I would have to go a bit further back in time than the archives will allow me at this time. Records for San Pietro go back as far as 1809 when civil registrations began. Before 1809, you'd have to look at church records and those are not online.

    That doesn't mean I stopped at 1809. Nope. If there's a will, there's a way and I managed to push the Ferraiolo line back to 1725 with the birth of Giovanni Ferraiolo, my 6th great-grandfather. Unfortunately, he was not a blacksmith. All that is known about him came from death records and the Processetti in San Pietro. So, chances are good that the true origin of my last name go back way further than the 1700s.

    I did a little digging and found a helpful website which could answer my question. The website "House of Names" claimed the name "Ferraiolo" was first seen in the ancient Roman town of Padua. Unfortunately, the town was sacked twice. Once by Alaric in 409 AD and then by Atilla the Hun in 459 AD before being given to the Lombards. Could some records pertaining to the last name's origin  have been lost to time? It's possible. 

    In ancient times, only people of a certain class were ever recorded. Apparently, being recorded in those days was indicitive of noble blood. Wow. Good thing times changed, huh? 

    So, does that mean I come from noble blood? I don't know and honestly I don't really need to know. Sure it's cool and all. But, you guys all know how I feel about being connected to royalty: We've all got connections!

    Finding the origin of a last name is pretty interesting. It gives you a greater understanding of the people who bestowed that name upon you at birth. It also can connect you to a culture far from your own if you happen to have recent immigrant ancestors or even if your family has been in the same area for centuries. Names have that kind of power and it's great to see what they actually mean.

        Obviously I like the iron worker definition of the name more than one with the religious connotations. It just seems to fit with the name more. The Latin word for "iron" is "ferrum" and Latin plays a huge role in the origins of many Italian last names. I mean....they were in the center of the Roman Empire. Adaptations were going to be made. Now, I wonder if I descend from a guy who created a sword for some gladiator. You never know. 

    My last name is pretty popular as you can see from this map from Cognomix. It's easy to see how widespread it became until it was ultimately adopted by my ancestors in San Pietro a Maida. This is just the current families with that last name, by the way and as you can see there are still quite a few Ferraiolos in Calabria. Very interesting. I wonder if I'm related to them. Spoilers. I probably am! It shouldn't surprise you in the slightest!

    So, that's the secret origin of my last name. There's honestly not a lot to it. Other Italian last names have similar meanings. "Capobianco" means "White head". Tedesco means "German". I suggest going out and find what your last name means. The answer may surprise you. As for me, I'm off to build a suit of armor in a cave with a bunch of scraps. Why? Because at the end of the day....I am Iron Man.

See ya next time!