Meaning of family name Vendegna?

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jdonofrio
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Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by jdonofrio »

Does anyone know the meaning of the family name "Vendegna", or have any insight into the meaning?

The family is from the Potenza, Basilicata Province area. It is not a widespread name. Some members of this family moved to the Denver area in the US, where the name is spelled "Vendegnia."

Any help is appreciated. Grazie!
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ptimber
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Post by ptimber »

The Italian surname dictionary has no record for Vendegna or Vendegnia for that matter and can be considered a local name whose meaning is not found in any word dictionary. The closest word is Vendemmia which means harvest but that is not Vendegna is it. The meaning is probably lost in the mists of time anddoes not appear to be derived from some foreign source. Sorry. peter
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Post by tim340 »

My sister-in-law's maiden name is Vendegnia and she's from the Denver area. Have you been in contact with them? I could help if you're interested.

Tim Agazio
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Post by ptimber »

Tim you might want to alert your relatives in denver that there are 10 persons in Potenza Italy where the surname seems to have oprignated and it is spelled VENDEGNA and there are two more (probably migrants to Lombardia) up north as well. Apparently an "i" creeped in erroneously or to facilitate the pronounciation. Either way it is an error which you may wish to point out to them. Go to www.paginebianche.it and put in Vendegna in the first line and PZ for the potenza province and Lombardia for Lombardia region. then click CERCA for complete listing. If you use Vendegnia it will return negative. Peter
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vinny710
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by vinny710 »

My father always told me Vendegna just meant farmer. I'm from NY, all the Vendegna's I know (the less than 10 of them) are from Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island.

-Jesse Vendegna
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ptimber
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by ptimber »

There are 13 people in Italy who are surnamed Vendegna. This surname is either very local in origin or was originally foreign and italianized. There is no record in the Italian surname dictionary for the word. The word that is close to farmer is Vendemmia meaning harvest but there is no word Vendegna in the normal italian word dictionary. It just sounds like harvest but it is not. There are 10 persons in the city of Potenza in Southern Italy in the Basilicata region with that surname while there are 3 in thre city of Milano in the Lombardia regfion. You can find these persons by going to www.paginebianche.it and inserting the VENDEGNA surname in the first line and the Initials for Potenza PZ to cover the city and the province of Potenza and then click CERCA for a listing of the 10 persaons by full nam,eaddress and telephone number and who are probably relatives. Do the same for Milano putting in MI and the three surnames will show up residing in Milano. If you go to www.ellisisland.org you will no doubt find the entry data for your family. I would consider Potenza to be the origin town for your family. Peter
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DVendegna
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by DVendegna »

Hello there,
My great grandparents Guiseppe and Arcangela Vendegna came to the US from Potenzo at the turn of the century. They lived in upstate NY for awhile but eventually moved with their children to the Chicago area. There are now quite a few Vendegnas in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.
I was always told that our surname loosely (yes very very loosely) translates as keeper of the vines. This made sense to me because my great grandfather was a very skilled wine maker who bemoaned his inability to get proper grapes in NY.
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vinny1957
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by vinny1957 »

My wife is doing the family genealogy, our last name is Vendegnia.Would like to hear anything about this name or Vendegna. We live in Denver Co.
Thanks!
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by PeterTimber »

Vendegna is not listed in the Italian surname dictionary and is considered to be either local in origin or imported from abroad and italianized. Vendegna is not a word as well and does not appear in the Italian word dictionary. =Peter=
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fredoniapeaches
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by fredoniapeaches »

DVendegna wrote:Hello there,
My great grandparents Guiseppe and Arcangela Vendegna came to the US from Potenzo at the turn of the century. They lived in upstate NY for awhile but eventually moved with their children to the Chicago area. There are now quite a few Vendegnas in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.
I was always told that our surname loosely (yes very very loosely) translates as keeper of the vines. This made sense to me because my great grandfather was a very skilled wine maker who bemoaned his inability to get proper grapes in NY.
I have to make a comment on this. as Upstate NY or the Western New York region is world renowned for it's grape production, and our local wines rival that of Napa Valley and Europe. Many of our Local Italian Farmers have made a great deal of money off of our local grape production!! and many grape growers world wide, buy their plants right here in Western New York.

just and FYI and little WNY tivia. :wink:
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by PeterTimber »

Dear Fredoniapeaches your my heroine!! We used to buy NY state grapes when I was a UU (unhappy unmarried=single) living at home and making wine At home withmy dad. =Peter=
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fredoniapeaches
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by fredoniapeaches »

one of my favorite local wineries is merrit estate.
www.merrittestatewinery.com

I love their Bella Rosa a very fruity lambrusco
the Chautauqua Niagara is a great little sweet grapey summer pool wine.
their Edlewiess is sooooo yummy.

they make gift baskets for all occassions and they ship it!! and no, I do not at all work for them...I just really enjoy their products!!
and yes...I'm a sweet wine girl.
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by PeterTimber »

Obviously!!!!!!!!=Peter=
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miintrindade
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Re: Meaning of family name Vendegna?

Post by miintrindade »

I'm part of this family too! Can't believe it! *-*
I know a really interesting part of the family's history and have a letter wrote by Michele Vendegna to his brother, Domenico Vendegna!
But not to the US, to Brazil :D 'Gradpa' Domenico moved to São Paulo to try to work as a schoemaker in his on store an also -my family suspects- to run away from his wife, Marieta, to whom he was forced to marry!
Anyway, is good to know that part of the family is also in the USA :D Vendegna family all over the world!
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maestra36
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Vendegna

Post by maestra36 »

ptimber wrote:The Italian surname dictionary has no record for Vendegna or Vendegnia for that matter and can be considered a local name whose meaning is not found in any word dictionary. The closest word is Vendemmia which means harvest but that is not Vendegna is it. The meaning is probably lost in the mists of time anddoes not appear to be derived from some foreign source. Sorry. peter
I found the following which relates to what Peter wrote above:

http://www.aptbasilicata.it/a_galloitalico/index.html

vendegna, s. f., vendemmia. Si trova nel dialetto ‘moderno’ ed è un cognome diffuso. v. veregnà (it is considered a GalloItalic dialect of Basilicata (region in Italy)

Vendegna appears to be related to Vendemmia and is found in modern dialect
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