Origin of Butera surname

[nathanbutera]

Hi,

I am curious about the origin of my surname Butera. My grandfather emigrated from Italy in 1931. He was from Aragona, Sicily. I am also curious about the origin of his mother's surname, Fucá.

Thanks for any info available.

-Nathan Butera

[PeterTimber]

There are no listings for Butera or Fuca in the Italian surname dcitionary which mans that the names may have been of foreign origin or local in origin and italianized. If you go to www.familysearch.org and under ancestor search you can post both Butera and Fuca to see if there is another country that has a listing for the surnames. =Peter= .

[nathanbutera]

Thank you for looking into it.

I know that there is a small town in Sicily named Butera. I have been there. However, I do not know how the town was named. I also know that there is a Palazzo Butera in Palermo, but again, I do not know where the name is originally from.

Thanks for the tip on family search. I will check it out.

-Nathan

[liviomoreno]

Butera is widely present in Sicily. It may derive from the name of the town Butera, province of Caltanisetta, but it is also possible that it is an italicization of the Arab name Abu Tir, or even from the profession of the progenitor, butirah (shepherd in Arabic) or even from the Greek word boutyras (butter seller). See: http://www.cognomiitaliani.org/cognomi/ ... 0002ul.htm (in Italian).

Fucà is also present in Sicily and may derive from a modification of the Greek name Foca. There was a Saint, named Foca di Antiochia who was a martyr during the Traiano Empire in year 107. See: http://www.cognomiitaliani.org/cognomi/ ... 0006re.htm (in Italian).