Surname "Facarazzo"

[johnnyonthespot]

I have a surname Facarazzo in my family tree, through marriage to one of my mother's sisters.

A bit curious about this name: there are no Facarazzo's in the Italian telephone directory and just two passenger manifests on ancestry . com - both of them females, one from Bari and the other from nearby Palo del Colle. Both of which tie in with http://www.gens.labo.net/en/cognomi/gen ... &t=cognomi which shows 1-5 persons in the Bari area.

An extremely rare name, or a corruption of another Italian spelling? Any thoughts?

[maestra36]

I find that if you spell the surname as Focarazzo, you get a lot of hits on virgilio.it

[maestra36]

It seems there were focarazzi. I can't find what it means, but I see reference to it on some church sites.

"in Basilicata troviamo i “focarazziâ€

[maestra36]

la vigilia di S. Giuseppe si accendono i 'focarazzi' falo' di fascine di ginestra che i ragazzi vanno 'rubando'.

http://www.gingen.org/tradizioni_popolari_lucane.htm

[johnnyonthespot]

Interesting that in both articles, "focarazzi" is in quotes...

[johnnyonthespot]

On this page is a video titled "Focarazzi!" and it is just 30 seconds of a seal (?) at a zoo or water park.

[johnnyonthespot]

Bonfires? http://www.itchefs-gvci.com/index.php?o ... Itemid=300

[quote]
On the other hand, in the south on that evening “firesâ€

[maestra36]

Interesting stuff you found about the word "focarazzi," Carmine.

Peg

[johnnyonthespot]

Interesting stuff you found about the word "focarazzi," Carmine.

Peg

Ha! You started it!

I still don't know if this guy's real name was Facarazzo. I have him getting married and divorced in Florida (he had four wives total; my mother's sister died young, two of the others were divorced.

No immigration record; no suitable census records (lived in NY), really not much at all.

[maestra36]

Carmine,

One of my many backgrounds happens to be in the field of Linguistics, so I am very interested in the etymology of surnames and how they derived. Just can't help myself. Anyway, sorry the references I found to the word "focarazzi" didn't get you any further in your research of this particular individual. At least you now have an alternate spelling of the last name.

Peg

[tmanahan]

My maternal grandmother's maiden name was I think Focarazzo. Her first name was Angela. She married Dominick Cianciaruso. She had 3 sisters and one brother. They were from Palo del Colle, Bari. She and her sisters lived in Queens, NY. Their younger brother Gugliemo died after being run over by a horse and carriage. I hope that helps...maybe we are related. I know they had relatives in MA.