Surname Ronna - Potenza?

[Miss Blue]

I've posted elsewhere in the forum, but I thought I would ask here.

My 2nd great-grandmother is a Ronna, born in Italy. The Italian cognome map suggests it's a fairly unusual Italian surname. I have reason to believe the family is from Potenza, but it's possible that's just wrong.

For those of you who do Potenza research, do you know of any towns there where this name appears? Picerno looked like a good possibility because of some other names in the collateral lines of the Ronnas (Casale, Romeo), but the name is spelled Renna. I'm open to the possibility that the name was changed, that perhaps it was Renna or Rona or some variation, but I looked through Picerno extensively and couldn't find any birth or marriage records that conclusively point to my family.

[AngelaGrace56]

The surname possibly is Renna. The town Potenza, today, also has the three names Casale, Romeo and Renna. Have you looked at that comune?

http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs= ... dv=potenza (Ofcourse not all names are listed in the white pages.)

Do you have any early documents, that you can show us, with any or all of these names written on them especially immigration records?

Related thread: http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/l ... 63#p249063

Edit to Add: It is also quite possible that all three surnames might not belong to the same town. A great grandfather from Grumento Nova married my great grandmother from a neighbouring town, Sarconi, then from there various ones married spouses from other towns like Viggiano, Moliterno, Montemurro, Spinoso etc.

Angela

[Miss Blue]

The surname possibly is Renna. The town Potenza, today, also has the three names Casale, Romeo and Renna. Have you looked at that comune?

Do you have any early documents, that you can show us, with any or all of these names written on them especially immigration records?

Related thread: http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/l ... 63#p249063

I did look at Potenza, in addition to Picerno, because it occurred to me that when relatives listed "Potenza," they may have meant the town, not the province. I didn't find anything too promising, but I'll go back since the names all appear there (in some form).

So, I figure I need to offer a little genealogy here. My great-grandparents were Domenico Gerardi and Filomena Casale. Domenico's parents were Vito Gerardi (born 1877 in Avigliano, Potenza) and Concetta Ronna (born about 1881 in Italy).

Concetta Ronna's parents were Antonio Ronna and Rosa Casale/Casala/some variation.

Domenico Gerardi's wife, Filomena Casale, may have been a cousin of his. That has been the family rumor long before I discovered the records showing the Casale surname on both sides. Filomena Casale's father was Michele Casale (born about 1860 in Italy) and his parents were Angelo Casale and Angela Romeo.

My suspicion has been that they were all from the same town, but I don't know.

Here are the records I do have.

WWI Draft Reg for my great-grandfather, listed his nearest relative as Tony Ronna. I believe that's his maternal grandfather. http://imgur.com/a/us2Ff

1918 Philadelphia, PA marriage record for my great-grandparents, note mother's surname listed as Ronner. I assume a non-rhotic speaker heard it. http://imgur.com/a/0x7aB

1915 NYC death record for Concetta Ronna Gerardi, parents listed as Antonio Ranno and Rosa Cassala. http://imgur.com/a/BhAET

1888 NY passenger manifest for Rosa Casale, daughter Concetta, and son Francesco, lines 56-58. Concetta Ronna had a brother Frank, and her brother Frank married Vito Gerardi's sister, Beatrice Gerardi. That's how I've been able to narrow down this record as being the likeliest one. http://imgur.com/a/t2iTl

1905 NY State Census for Anthony and Rosa "Rona." http://imgur.com/a/eKBNo

The 1892 NYC marriage record for Filomena Casale's parents, Michele Casale and MG Latorraca. http://imgur.com/a/zBcJI

I suspect this is one of the immigration records for Antonio Ronna, but I am not sure, line 48: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1 ... cc=1849782

[Miss Blue]

And here are the rest of the URLs that would not fit:

And this is Concetta Ronna's brother, Francesco/Frank, in the 1940 Census. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1 ... cc=2000219

I haven't been able to definitively prove which immigration record is Michele Casale's (Filomena's father, son of Angelo and Angela Romeo), but I know he must have immigrated before 1890 because he had a daughter Angelina born in the US in 1890, and he was married in 1892. So, that narrows it down a bit. http://imgur.com/a/Ads6C

[Miss Blue]

Edit to Add: It is also quite possible that all three surnames might not belong to the same town. A great grandfather from Grumento Nova married my great grandmother from a neighbouring town, Sarconi, then from there various ones married spouses from other towns like Viggiano, Moliterno, Montemurro, Spinoso etc.

Angela

That is my fear/concern, yes, that they were maybe from the same area, but not the same town.

[PippoM]

Well, I don't know if you already have it, or are interested in it...however, here is Maria Giuseppa Latorraca,s birth record, in Moliterno:

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1 ... cc=2043547

She was born on Aug 9, 1872, the daughter of Paolo (son of deceased Giuseppe, 39 years old), and Serafina Cassino (daughter of Angelo, 29 years).

[Miss Blue]

Well, I don't know if you already have it, or are interested in it...however, here is Maria Giuseppa Latorraca,s birth record, in Moliterno:

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1 ... cc=2043547

She was born on Aug 9, 1872, the daughter of Paolo (son of deceased Giuseppe, 39 years old), and Serafina Cassino (daughter of Angelo, 29 years).

I have that record, yes. Thank you, though, I appreciate it!

[Miss Blue]

Just to update - a Casale DNA match finally returned my email. She didn't have a lot of information, but I was able to follow her Casale line easier than mine and ended up in Picerno again, as I thought might be a possibility.

After several days of searching, I found my 2nd great-grandfather's birth record, his sister's, his marriage record, his mother's birth record, and the marriage records of three of his siblings! And then I found my 2nd great-grandmother's birth record, her brother's, and her parents' marriage record - Ato Lanno and Rosa Casale.

As it turns out, the surname appears to be Lanno, not Ronna. I don't know why the name would have been spelled "Ronna" or "Rona" in the US, but it was. Sometimes a trilled "R" can sound like an "L," so that's my operating theory at the moment.

And my roadblock was my own doing - I assumed that all the surnames (Casale, Romeo, Ronna/Lanno) had to be from the same town, but as was suggested here in this thread, Lanno is indeed NOT from Picerno or even Potenza. His birth place was "Ariano" on his marriage record, so I assume that's Ariano in Avellino in Campania.

There were a lot of soap opera discoveries, like my 2nd great-grandfather Michele and his siblings were all born illegitimately with unknown fathers. Michele Casale gave "Romeo" as his mother's surname, but his mother's name was Casale. Romeo is a name in Picerno, so perhaps he just made it up. Perhaps it's the name of his biological father. That's a new mystery to solve. Also, my great-grandparents were indeed cousins - first cousins once removed.

I'm still double and triple checking and working through the genealogical proof method to make sure that I am not getting ahead of myself, but Picerno seems to be it. /relief

[suanj]

Hi, and in this record the surname spelling is Romia:
Beatrice Geradi
mentioned in the record of Francesco Romia and Beatrice Geradi
Name Francesco Romia

Event Type Marriage
Event Date 22 Jul 1911
Event Place Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Gender Male
Age 26
Marital Status Single
Race White
Birth Year (Estimated) 1885
Birthplace Italy
Father's Name Ateno Romia

Mother's Name Rosa Casselle

Spouse's Name Beatrice Geradi
Spouse's Gender Female
Spouse's Age 21
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Race White
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1890
Spouse's Birthplace N.Y.C.
Spouse's Father's Name Domenico Geradi

Spouse's Mother's Name Caterina Nola

regards,
suanj

[suanj]

the surname spelling could be also..: LOMIO..?
suanj

[Miss Blue]

Hi, and in this record the surname spelling is Romia:
Beatrice Geradi
mentioned in the record of Francesco Romia and Beatrice Geradi
Name Francesco Romia

Event Type Marriage
Event Date 22 Jul 1911
Event Place Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Gender Male
Age 26
Marital Status Single
Race White
Birth Year (Estimated) 1885
Birthplace Italy
Father's Name Ateno Romia

Mother's Name Rosa Casselle

Spouse's Name Beatrice Geradi
Spouse's Gender Female
Spouse's Age 21
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Race White
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1890
Spouse's Birthplace N.Y.C.
Spouse's Father's Name Domenico Geradi

Spouse's Mother's Name Caterina Nola

regards,
suanj

Oh wow, thank you.

Beatrice Gerardi is the sister of my 2nd great-grandfather. The parents were Domenico and Catarina Nole. Beatrice married Frank Ronna.

My 2nd great-grandmother was Concetta Lanno and she had a brother named Francesco born in 1885 in Italy. Her parents were Antonio/Oto Lanno and Rosa Casale.

Romia/Lomio could be Lanno or Ronna. He used Ronna in his life, but based on this marriage record, I think he is indeed the son of Oto Lanno and Rosa Casale. I am not sure why he used Ronna in his life.

Did you find this on Family Search?

[Miss Blue]

I found it on FS. I can't believe I've never seen this before. I assumed they married in NJ.

[suanj]

yes I found on FS.. glad you found it also...
regards,
suanj