Surname Geronimi/Geronime/Gironimi

[Veritas]

I am new to this website, and hoping that someone can offer help in researching the surname Geronimi. My family spells it Geronime, however I believe that Geronimi is the original spelling.

My great-great grandfather Bartolomeus (also referenced as Barclamiu) was born in Italy (I believe in Chiavenna - not certain of his birth date). He emigrated to Selva, Switzerland around 1858, married and started a family in 1861 and remained there until his death in 1887. I have found references to the fact that he was a master mason and that he had brothers, however I have been unable to find any information about the rest of his family.

I have found some information on the web that shows that the name Geronimi is a current one in the Lombardy region. If anyone recognizes this surname or has suggestions on how to proceed with my research, your assistance would be appreciated. Thanks!

[misbris]

Hi and welcome to the forum. In case you haven't seen this site,
http://www.gens.labo.net/en/cognomi/genera.html

You are correct that the name Geronime does not exist in Italy today, but Geronimi is primarily in Lombardy, esp near the border.

Here is a site which will show you the towns in Lombardy where the name is.
http://italia.indettaglio.it/eng/cognomi/cognomi.html

[pink67]

Hi Veritas,

don't know if you already seen this record from Familysearch.org:

Anna Lucrezia Geronimi
Event(s):
Birth: 23 JAN 1894 Laaz, , Graubunden, Switzerland
Christening:
Death: 05 MAR 1958
Marriages:
Spouse: Jean Mérade Cuenat Family
Marriage: 26 OCT 1945 La Chaux-De-Fonds, Neuchatel, Switzerland

Can be your relative?

Laura

[Veritas]

Thank you both for the welcome and for the information.

I am not certain if Anna Lucrezia Geronimi is a relative. I did recently find out that my great-great grandfather had four sons, not two. One son died in infancy, but I have not found a date-of-death for the other son. His name was Josephus Martinus (spelling of last name listed as Gieromini, which is most likely an error?) and he was born on March 23, 1866. It is possible that if he survived to adulthood he may have left the Selva area and later had a family. I have also found an Ida Geronimi, but it was only through her Swiss husband's family - surname Berther - so I do not have much information. There was an article mentioning a Geronimi family in Danis, Switzerland in the early 1900's, but again the information was very limited.

I have also just recently found the name Geronimi listed multiple times in the family register for the families Andreoli and Martelletti, but I have yet to hear back from the person in Australia who put it together.

This genealogy journey has been an interesting one. As a child, people were constantly telling me that Geronime could not possibly be a Swiss surname. I always though it sounded Italian, but no one in my family had any information about its origin. Then, in the process of researching my Swiss grandmother's family, I found a reference to my paternal great-great grandfather emigrating from Chiavenna to Selva. This confirmed what several members of my family believed, but we could never make the connection. My next step is to find official documentation of my family's link to Chiavenna and possibly also learn the origin of my surname. I welcome any suggestions!

veritas

[peteroz]

Hi,
The name Geronimi comes from the area near chiavenna,my grand father was born in Olmo in the mountains not far from there.THe name is very common there still,i think it is the most common,unlike where i am in australia.
My grandparents moved to Australia in 1922.
i have a relative in st moritz that operates the chrysler/jeep garage but im not sure how common the name is in switzerland.Many other cousins in Chiavenna also.

the problem withy tracing some italian families is that they are so big.a couple of my grandfathers siblings had 9 kids each.

I was lucky in that i found my fathers 1st cousin on the net on the first search i tried.not bad as there had been no contact between the aussies and the italians for 80 years.

There is the famous cartoon director Clyde Geronimi (Mr Magoo,spiderman,101 dalmations,jimminy cricket etc.)

Good luck ,feel free to ask any questions ,you never know maybe i can help.

Pete Geronimi
Australia

[Veritas]

Hi Pete,

Thank you for the information. I found it very interesting! I was wondering...has your surname always been spelled 'Geronimi'? I have found some data that seems to use the surname 'Gironimi' interchangeably. However, I think that surname spelling is mainly found in the Revo area. There are many soundex possibilities, so it has made researching a bit more challenging. I have also seen several references to the spelling 'Gieronimi', although a cousin of mine was told that is not "correct Italian"???

I have read information about a few Geronimi's in Australia. I also saw the name on a website for the Andreoli and Martelletti families in Australia, but I never heard back from the person who put it together.

Two days ago I received information that my gggrandfather may have possibly been born in 1825. Are you able to trace your family back to that time? It would be very interesting to learn about your family in the early 1800's to see if there is a connection.

I have also seen the data about Clyde Geronimi, the Disney animator/director. Are you related to him? His immigration data shows his surname as 'Gerenimi', but it was probably an error. Not uncommon to see those types of things in Ellis Island immigration records.

Please let me know if you have any other information about your family's roots in Italy.

Thank you!
Veritas

[Geronimilc]

Hello all Geronimi's,

My grand father was Clyde Geronimi the Disney director. He had a sister named Emma and a brother name Larry. They were born in Chiavenna and came to the US through Ellis Island I believe around 1903. Anyway, I would love to know more about my family! If anyone has info please pass it on. I know I have a cousin name Stefana (sp) in Italy. I am Lyn Clyde Geronimi, Jr. and of course my father is Sr. My uncle is Gary.

Thanks for help,

Lyn

[vj]

My grand father was Clyde Geronimi the Disney director.
He had a sister named Emma and a brother name Larry.
They were born in Chiavenna and came to the US through Ellis Island
I believe around 1903.

Hi Lyn,
Welcome to the forum!
(note, sometimes these images can be slow to load)
Valarie

Possible immigration info from ancestry.com

Clyde & mother & siblings
possible 1908 manifest
page 2
special inquiry page
27 Dec 1908 SS La Lorraine,Havre to NY
Lines 20-23
Enrichetta Gerenimi (maiden name lined thru) 32, abt 1876
- last residence Sondrio
- in Chiavenna (Sondrio), mother ?? Festorazzi
- destination New Rochelle, NY
- joining husband Nemesio Gerenimi at 96 W 4th Street
- born in Chiavenna
Emma 12, abt 1896
Italo 10, abt 1898
Cleto 7, abt 1901
- possible naturalization notation: 23A-3267- 4/15/42 (505)

Clyde’s father
possible 1907 manifest
page 2
16 Nov 1907 SS La Lorraine, Havre to NY
Line 11
Nemesio Gerenimi 35, abt 1872
- butcher
- last residence Sandrio
- in Chiavenna, wife Enrichetta ??esseri?
- destination NY, NY
- going to a business?
- born in Chiavenna

1921 passport application
page 2 with picture
Henrietta Geronimi
---

Possible census records

1930 census
Home in 1930:
Bronx, Bronx, New York
2078? Brady Ave & Bronx Park East, rents
Head Henrieta Geroninss (Geronimi) 54
- married at age 35? (Or 35 yrs, abt 1895)
- widow
- immig 1908, Na (naturalized)
Daughter Emma Geroninss 33
Son Lawrence Geroninss 31
Son Clyde Geroninss 28
- Firm, artist

1920 census
Home in 1920:
Bronx Assembly District 6, Bronx, New York
1736 Adams Street
Head Joseph Geonoma 48
- Butcher, Meat Market
Wife Henrietta Geonoma 42
Daughter Emma Geonoma 22
Son Lawrence Geonoma 20
Daughter? (Son) Clyde Geonoma 17
- Artist, Art Studio
Father-in-law? Memeico Geonoma 73, abt 1847
- immig 1919

[vj]

Just one of several obituaries on GenealogyBank.com:

Los Angeles Times (CA) - April 29, 1989
Deceased Name: Clyde (Gerry) Geronimi; Animator Won 2 Oscars
Clyde (Gerry) Geronimi, who began with the Walt Disney Studios in 1931 animating Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Silly Symphony cartoons and whose 28-career extended into Academy Award-winning directorships of some of Disney's best-known feature films, died Monday.

He was 87 and died in his Newport Beach home, where he lived after he retired.

Geronimi was an experienced animator before joining Disney, having traced drawings of comic characters and transferred them to film for the old Hearst studios, whose early cartoon characters included "The Katzenjammer Kids." (A co-worker at Hearst in 1918 was Walter Lantz, who subsequently created Woody Woodpecker and other cartoon classics. Lantz handed Geronimi his Annie Award when the Italian-born Geronimi was honored by the Hollywood chapter of the International Animation Society in 1977.)aw," another short.

As a sequence, or segment, director, Geronimi's credits for Disney included "Three Caballeros," "The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad," "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," "Sleeping Beauty," for which he was supervising director, and "101 Dalmations."

He also directed several specials for Disney on television.

He is survived by two sons, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

[vj]

Possible NYC record:

Surname/ Given Name/ Age/ Month/ Day/ Year/
Certificate Number/ County/ Born
Geronimi Nemesir 54 y Aug 9 1926 6034 Bronx 1871 - 1872

---
These may help locate New York City records:
Dr Steve Morse One Step Search Pages for New York
NY Naturalization
NYC Birth Records 1891-1902 (requires ancestry.com subscription)
NYC Groom Index 1864-1936
NYC Bride Index ????-1937
NYC Death Records 1891-1948
New York Cemeteries (Mts Hebron, Carmel & Zion)

Ordering NYC Vital Records
New York City Archives

[Veritas]

Hi Lyn,

It was interesting to read your post. Your grandfather's name often comes up when I am running internet searches for genealogy data, so I have learned a lot about him.

I am still working on tracking down information for my gggrandfather, whose name we now believe was Bartolomeo Geronimi. I recently rented a FHC microfilm for Chiavenna records (Morti 1866-1910), and it contained listings for many Geronimis. One was for a Nemesio Lorenzo Geronimi who died in 1877 at the age of 79. I noted that the information vj provided you with contained this given name, so the Nemesio Lorenzo Geronimi in the FHC records may be connected to your family.

The records are very difficult to read, but there were also listings for Torguato Geronimi, Maria Catherina Geronimi, Elizabetta Geronimi (there was also a reference here for a surname Toccalli, so perhaps that was her maiden name), Egidio Geronimi, and Ferdinando Geronimi (with a reference to a Marianna Famiagalli - not 100% sure about the spelling). Anyway, I am listing these names in case any of them sound familiar to you or to another member of your family.

I am not certain how far back you want to go with your research. I am currently awaiting birth act information from Chiavenna for my gggrandfather from 1827. It has been about 6 weeks since I sent my request, so I hope to receive something soon (although of course there is no guarantee that I will receive a reply).

Although there are over 100 people with the surname Geronimi in the Chiavenna area today, the surname is rarely found outside of Lombardia. Given what Pete Geronimi said in his post, I wonder if there may be a few large Geronimi families in Chiavenna that we are all descended from.

I'll keep you posted if I find any more information, and would appreciate it if you would do the same.

Sincerely,
veritas

[lkotowicz]

My Grandmother, Rosina Celano was born April 17, 1898. She came to the USA in 1919. I am trying to find her decendants who moved to Genoa many years ago.

Her sisters' names were Filomina and Angelina. I don't have too much more information.

Can someone help me with my search. Thank you.

Linda

[misbris]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Members here will be happy to help you in your search, but you should post this request as a new topic so it does not confuse the previous posters.

Do you know the town that Rosina was originally from? Or where she settled when she got here? Was Celano her maiden name? Do you have the married names of any of the sisters?

[lkotowicz]

Thank you for your reply. I have been away and haven't seen your reply until now. Rosina Celano was born in or around Battipalia or Torcharo. Battipalia wrote me back and said their records start in 1929 (Rosina was born in 1898)and directed me to Comune di Eboli and Comune di Montecorvino Rovella for records. I have e-mail them - not sure I had the right e-mail.

Rosina Maria Celano was the youngest child of 3 or 4 children. Thomasso and Giovanni were the boys - we believe Maria was a sister, Filamina Celano was an aunt or other relative. We belive her father was also Thomasso and Angelina was her mother's name. We do not have married names of the sisters - but we do know that Giovanni and the sisters moved to Genova - the other brother Thomasso came to the US.

I have recently written 7 letters to Celano's in Genova, addresses I got from the white pages in Genova.

Linda

[misbris]

Perhaps one of the moderators can separate this into a new stand so we don't highjack this one.
I am posting a possible manifest for reference.

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0013

p2
http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0013