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I have spent several hours today researching my maternal grandparents and their relatives, all of whom were from Malvito, Cosenza, using the ARCHIVIO DI STATO DI COSENZA web site.
On one branch of the tree, I find Muzio Ursumarzo (1799-1840) and his spouse Innocenza Iannuzzi (? - ?). From what I can see, they had four children, as follows:
Maria Antonia, b.1823 d. 1834
Maria Michelina, b.1826
Carolina Giuseppina b.1832
Maria Antonia, b.1836
Carolina married Francesco Antonio Di Cianni, one of the sons of my maternal great-great-great-gandparents.
However, it is the two Maria Antonia who catch my eye. I vaguely recall that it was not unusual to "recylce" names in this manner after the early death of a child. Can someone confirm?
misbris wrote:You are correct. If an infant or small child died, the name was often given to a later child.
Thanks, I had thought so.
On the Di Cianni side, my great-great-great-gandparents had five children. The youngest, Maria Rafaela Agata Di Cianni (b.1816 d.1817), died at less than 18 months of age. The next three children were boys who lived well into adulthood. In 1828 another girl was born; she was named Maria Rosa Agata Di Cianni and - sadly, incredibly - she died in 1830 at just 2 years and nine days of age.
Because of this, you have to be very careful when finding the correct ancestor. You need the date of birth. We almost got the wrong grandmother for my husband, not knowing there was one born before her with the same name.
My father is a second born son with the same name.
Eleven wrote:Because of this, you have to be very careful when finding the correct ancestor. You need the date of birth. We almost got the wrong grandmother for my husband, not knowing there was one born before her with the same name.
My father is a second born son with the same name.
Good point, and yet another reason why the Italian consulates sometimes appear to be nit-picking over (seemingly) small name and date variations when reviewing jure sanguinis applications.
Yes, names are often recycled..and are done so until one child lives to adulthood. I had one relatives who used the name four times before a child lived. I have another relative lost a daughter when she turned six so she had another child, but it turned out to be a son. She could not have anymore children after that so when her sons reached adulthood they decided they would name their first daughter that name. Oddly enough, it was the son who was born last that had the first daughter and so he honoured his sisters memory.
Not sure "recycle" is the best method of describing the actual practice of naming a child after a deceased sibling.
Naming patterns being important for centuries, if a son died that carried the name of his grandfather, it was important that the next son born carry that grandfather's name to continue the tradition. Same with the daughters.
Know I am being picky here, but recycling sounds so cold an explanation for what is a so dearly held practice over the generations. Names have meanings...like words. And it is in the meaning of those names that almost commands them being bestowed on a child born after the death of the child so named.
You are not being picky at all. In fact, I think you are being more than fair...recycling is a poor choice of words. Thanks for pointing that out.
I will also agree that "recycling" was not the ideal term to describe the situation; it was simply the first word which came to mind and would permit me to create a subject line which clearly defined my question. I could have said "Reusing names of deceased children" but that would not have been much better, would it?
The older generations who lived in southern Italy certainly remember the sound of the bells or the siren that occurred at various times of the day. Life was marked by simple and repetitive gestures: work, the relationship with nature, sharing with the family and the people of the small villages. Now...
