Would a Magister take a new name?

[VotM]

In tracing the Samperi's of Acireale, I've noticed something a bit odd. If I find a person with the title (degree, honorific, etc.) of "Magister" ("Mag.", "Mag.rum", etc.) listed for his marriage, then I will not find a baptismal record for someone of the same name in his parents' family. Conversely, if I find a person who does have a birth record and a marriage record with the same given name, then that person will not have the title of "Magister".

Does anyone know if it was the practice for someone gaining the title of "Magister" to change his name... at least in Sicily in the 1600's and 1700's?

[Italysearcher]

Magister often means the person is a 'master' of some kind. A trade perhaps Builder, architect, etc. The title applies to that person only and only after they have earned it.

[VotM]

What I'm interested in is whether a person who was baptized as, say, Giuseppe (Joseph) Samperi could have taken the name Mag. Giobatta (Joannis Batte) Samperi on earning that distinction?

I am curious because, as noted earlier, I seem to have run into at least two consecutive generations of Samperi's where I can find numerous siblings at each generation but can't tie the marriage record of a Magister to a baptismal record. It leaves me wondering if it was a custom (or at least an option) to take a new name, at least in Acireale.

Examples:

• In the 1620s-1630s there are baptismal records for Vincenzo Samperi's sons Pietro, Giuseppe Matteo, Vincenzo, and Domenico, plus a son named Giobatta who has the title of "Mag.ro" and a marriage record (1661) pointing back to Vincenzo and his wife... but no baptismal record;
• Giobatta, in turn, has sons in the 1660s-1670s who were baptized Vincenzo Francesco Giuseppe, Dominico Francesco Vincenzo, Francesco Antonino, Paolo Sebastiano Domenico, and Mario Sebastiano, plus a son named Lorenzo who has the title of "Magister" and a marriage record (1702/3) pointing back to Giobatta and his wife... but no baptismal record.

This may also have occurred in the generation prior to the first Vincenzo and in the one after Lorenzo, but the years in which Vincenzo was most likely born and the years in which Lorenzo's children were born have record gaps. The birth records for the 1620's through the 1680s seem fairly solid.

[Italysearcher]

I think it would be unusual to take a new name on becoming a Magister. It's not a religious thing.
I have seen differences in civil records, due to a person needing an 'administrative' name different from his father but using a baptismal name for daily use. Sometimes if a close family member dies shortly after a baptism the child will use that person's name on a daily basis which is often different from the baptismal name.
Was there more than one parish? Thie child wouldn't have been a Magister at time of baptism. Maybe there was an earthquake or war and the priest didn't record the baptisms!

[VotM]

For births in the 1620-1630 time period, there were two parishes: Maria Santissima Annunziata (the mother church) and Santa Caterina Vergine Martire; for 1660-1680, add San Michele Arcangelo.

In the two cases above all of the baptisms were performed at the mother church, but I've been through the trecords for all three parishes looking for Samperi births just in case -- though admittedly San Michele Arcangelo is much more difficult to verify due to the lack of indicies.

There are two notable holes in Acireale's parish records, which is why I am limiting my observation to the above two generations. The holes exist for 1591-1600 at the mother church, and 1701-1720 for San Giuseppe (one of three new parishes that started keeping records in 1693).

[andbin]

I searched this topic with the same question as you. I noticed some magisters have very "extravagant" names. I never seem to find a baptismal record with that name. My search of interest is in Nicosia, Sicily.