Giovanna

[darkerhorse]

An Irish priest in American handwrote a marriage document in 1922 in Italian language.

His congregation was largely Irish-American but with a growing segment of Italian-Americans. Perhaps the priest was part Italian or learned the language on the job.

One of the witnesses was named Anna and he wrote Giovanna. Her given name was just Anna, not short for anything like Sebastiana.

The priest's name was James and he wrote Giacomo. His surname was a common Irish surname, which he didn't Italianize.

Have you ever seen Anna rendered as Giovanna in Italian documents? I think I might have seen Anna rendered as Joanna in Latin documents, but I'm not sure.

[darkerhorse]

I suppose he could have neglected to ask, and just wrongly assumed her full name was Giovanna.

The church was called St. John which he wrote as San Giovanni.