Surname popularity

[MarcuccioV]

As I've gone about with trying to create my maternal family tree, based both on paper trails and DNA analysis, my research begs the question:

Would less popular surnames be likely to have been more recent arrivals in a particular town..? Say only a few generations at most, as opposed to very popular surnames which may have deeper roots in the area..?

I say this as several of the surnames in my maternal side of the tree (both grandparents) are relatively uncommon in the civil records, while others are quite common (and other unrelated surnames in town are by far in the majority).

I can only get as far back as 1871 for the town (Valmontone), so I have no data as to birthplaces prior to that date, with exception that some records of relatives show parents born in town but I have doubts as to their accuracy (especially if the witnesses were not family members).

Some of the surnames (from what I can tell) only contain a few patriarchs indicating most likely a relatively recent arrival into the area. I also show (through DNA analysis) ancestry from various other provinces to the south in fairly strong percentages, indicating (to me) family migration to the north over a few generations.

The surnames in question also appear more populous in these other regions supporting my theory.

Am I on the right track with this..? Or am I crazy..? Any opinions appreciated...

[darkerhorse]

Have you tried marriage allegati and/or Riveli to find older records for your ancestors?

[darkerhorse]

The distribution of surnames in Italy, especially in the South, after 1890, might be skewed by selective emigration. Not so much before then.

[MarcuccioV]

Have you tried marriage allegati and/or Riveli to find older records for your ancestors?

I believe I tried once with no joy. Perhaps I should give it another shot...

[MarcuccioV]

Going through the town's marriage registers, certain surnames are constantly repeating; sometimes many different members of the same (extended) family each year. In the case of my grandfather's surname, for example, it has only appeared (both in male & female form) about 6 times over the course of almost 10 years (so far). Some of the town's surnames have nearly twice that many in ONE year.

Since those marriages (at least the males) created between 3-6 children each (on average), it's not due to lack of procreation. As the years passed, the name became a bit more common, again leading me to think that the recent generations prior to the beginning of the records were fairly new arrivals to the town from other regions.

My DNA analysis suggests recent migration to Lazio from Campania, Abruzzo, Sicily and Puglia (in that order)...

[ottolino]

My DNA analysis suggests recent migration to Lazio from Campania, Abruzzo, Sicily and Puglia (in that order)...

hi Mark, out of interest, which DNA analysis provider did you use that provides such fine granularity in the data?
mille grazie,
Silvio

[darkerhorse]

25% Taranto - Di Castro, Sguro, Schinaja, Padalino, Pisano, Abbracciavento
25% Napoli - Cotugno, Parlato, Tosti
25% Barletta - Lavecchia, Cilli, Curci, Digiovanni, Dipalo
25% Caserta - Santoro, D'Ancicco, Bonelli, Fusco, Di Lucca, Fisone

Are those percentages based upon DNA or paper trail?

[MarcuccioV]

My DNA analysis suggests recent migration to Lazio from Campania, Abruzzo, Sicily and Puglia (in that order)...

hi Mark, out of interest, which DNA analysis provider did you use that provides such fine granularity in the data?
mille grazie,
Silvio

23&ME provides the best regional info.

[ottolino]

25% Taranto etc...

Are those percentages based upon DNA or paper trail?

apologies for the long delay, never even saw your question until now
it's purely based on paper trail, the DNA results I've got so far are not quite that specific, and are quite confusing to say the least :p
that's why I was quite interested to hear whether there are other companies out there that offer more granularity of data.

[MarcuccioV]

25% Taranto etc...

Are those percentages based upon DNA or paper trail?

apologies for the long delay, never even saw your question until now
it's purely based on paper trail, the DNA results I've got so far are not quite that specific, and are quite confusing to say the least :p
that's why I was quite interested to hear whether there are other companies out there that offer more granularity of data.

You should show recent ancestry from Campania and Puglia, then. I checked some of your surnames and they show in different regions. Is that your confusion..?

Although my grandparents (and all their progenitors as far back as the paper trail goes) came from Lazio, my (recent) ancestry shows to be from Campania, Lazio, Abruzzo, Sicily and Puglia (in that order). My mtDNA subclade (U3b2) is Sicilian in origin, confirming that. Family surnames often show up in these regions, also.

Best bet is probably a balance between the paper trail & DNA. Like the subject of this post, I'm certain some ancestors migrated into Lazio from these other regions at some point prior to the paper trail...