meaning of Detto

[tapeduzzi]

My fathers came from Schignano where there were many families that belonged to his mother's family (Ceresa) and his father's family (Peduzzi) I have always believed that the Detto or clan name was to keep them from marrying relatives. Is this true? If so, how do families get their detto, how often does the detto change, and when did dettos begin? There seem to be so many different Dettos in the Peduzzi family particularly, and the town is relatively small that it is hard to believe that there are many dettos. Is there any history that I could read to explain this better? Thank you for your help. Teresa

[Italysearcher]

If the act reads 'Antonio detto Giuseppe', it typically means that his administrative (or official ) name was Antonio but he was known as Giuseppe.
A 'sopranome' (or clan name) was an identifier for the various branches of a surname in order to keep them straight administratively.
Without having searched in the Comune records it can be difficult to answer this type of question. Does this help?

[tapeduzzi]

In Schignano where my fathers family is from there are many Peduzzi's. My question is when are the dettos assigned and how far back do they go. My fathers family is detto Coaza. If I go back the male line are they all Coaza's or does it change at some point. It is hard to believe that in a small village there are so many different dettos and none are related. Thanks and I hope I clarified my question. Thanks for your help. Teresa peduzzi

[tapeduzzi]

Are there changes after so many generations in the detto. If the detto is an administrative issue and because they tend to name their children a family name then how does the detto keep this straight. For instance my grandfather Miro had multiple sons and some had the name Miro. How then does this keep them straight or identified. Thanks Teresa

[Italysearcher]

The town anagrafe kept everyone straight becasue Italians then (and sometimes even now) they are known by their own name and their father's name. e.g. Giuseppe di Giovanni. If Giovanni had seven sons and each of them named their first son Giovanni...... Each Giovanni would bear also the name of their father as part of their administrative name. so..Giovanni di Fabio, Giovanni di Pasquale, etc. Even if there were several giovanni's the motehr's name would be added to the pot. So... Giuseppe di GIovanni e Maria Corsi. There wouldn't be tow of that combination (hopefully). Once Giovanni died his sons would become 'fu' Giovanni making way for anotehr generation of 'di' Giovanni's. Sounds complicated but it works. Try it on paper!
the ones named Coaza would be related to each other and at some point in the past all lines would merge. At least, that's been my experience.