Mandes Casalvecchio di puglia

[jathomas724]

My great great grandparents came to the U.S.A. from casalvecchio di puglia. The surname was mandes although anytime I say that to an italian i'm reminded that it does not end in a vowel so i must be mistaken. I was just looking for any information anyone might have about the mandes' in this area.

thank you.

[princessbubbles_1]

hello and welcome, this is a website that lets you see a visual map of the distribution of people in Italy with your last name.
http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turismo- ... &x=26&y=10
hope this helps

[PippoM]

In Family Search.org you will find a lot of records for Mandes in Casalnuovo Monterotaro, province of Foggia, very near Casalvecchio. Mandes might be a misspelling of the spanish surname Mendez (spanish surnames are common, owed to Spanish dominion over Italy). But Casalvecchio is also a village built by albanians in XV century, so Mandes might also be the italianization of an albanian surname.