Rosalia vs Lillian

[jamesm113]

I've noticed a few ancestors from Sicily were born Rosalia but used Lillian or Lillie as their name, especially after arriving in the US.

Is that a common name change/substitution? Obviously not probably as normal Giuseppa->Josephine.

[darkerhorse]

I suppose if Lia is a nickname for Rosalia then you could see Americanizing it to Lillian or Lillie. Or, it could just be a family thing.

[darkerhorse]

For example, In my Sicilian family, Vincenzo became James or Jimmie, and Vincenza was called Enzula or Jennie - working off "cenzo(a).

[darkerhorse]

Sebastiano was called Michael which I can't explain. In other families Sebastiano was called Sam because of the dialect Sammastianu.

[PippoM]

It's a name change, based on the fact that they "sound similar"

[jamesm113]

Thank you both!