Semmolella--Am I reading this correctly?

[sigatti]

I have been having a lot of success locating civil records for my husband's family rooted in Lazio and Le Marche. Various websites have provided us with access to some helpful records.

While researching some family members from the late 1800s and early 1900s--all located in villages in Viterbo, Lazio, I encountered several references to a name that has been very difficult to decode. One document has the clearest spelling, so I'll offer what I'm seeing: Semmolella

This is the family name of a second great-grandmother, Marianna, who resided in Toscanella (now Tuscania, I believe) and died--as far as I know--prior to 1876. I located three death records for her children.

I have had no luck in tracing this unusual name. Could it be a misspelling of a similar name? Does anyone know of this family name? Or am I misreading it? I do have a helpful chart of Italian handwriting samples.

Many thanks in advance,
Susan Gatti
Indiana PA USA

[erudita74]

Could you upload some of the documents to the forum? Without seeing the documents, it is difficult to say what the correct spelling of the surname is.

Erudita

[sigatti]

I obtained them through the very helpful Antenati Italiani website. I'll try to upload the images, if possible.

Thanks!

[adelfio]

Just get the record online then copy and paste the page link from Antenati Italiani to IG website to your post

Marty

[sigatti]

Thanks, Marty. I'll give this a try. The death record is #84 (1880), filed in Toscanella, Viterbo, Lazio. It is for Nazzarena Maffei.

I hope this works. Thank you all for your help.


http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.i ... ewsIndex=0

[erudita74]

Yes, you are reading the surname correctly. Currently there is one individual in the Italian white pages living in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, in Caserta Province, with the surname spelled with only one m as in Semolella. I can't find any other references to this surname, but the second m may have also been the letter b, as in Sembolella.

The surname is derived from the word for a type of wheat or grain called semola or semolino(a). There is also a game which is spelled the same as the surname in the record which is played by young children on Christmas Eve. Sometimes even adults, mostly women, also participate in the game. The reference for this is below:

https://books.google.com/books?id=mEYSA ... la&f=false

Erudita

[sigatti]

Thank you, Erudita! There were three death acts bearing this name, all for children of Veriano Maffei and Marianna Semolella (one lists her as "Maddilena.") These relatives died in old age. Each rendering of the name is different.

I really appreciate your helpful information! Thanks, too, to Marty for helping with the upload.

Susan