Towns and surnames.

[scorpione]

My grandfather whose surname is Caivano was born in Formicola ,Italy.Fairly close by there are 2 areas named Caivano. One is a town of 30,000 only 9 miles from Naples and the other is a hamlet of Ruoti in Province of Potenza.I have heard that surnames for commoners arose around the 14th century.Is it logical for me to assume that his ancestors took the name Caivano when they left that place sometime after the 14th century?Also are there any guesses as to whether his people came from the big or small Caivano.My guess is they came from the bigger town but that is only a guess.Also how can I tell if they stopped at other places and took the name Caivano then and carried an already existing name (Caivano) when they finally reached Formicola?Or was Formicola the first move after surnames became popular and they went directly there from Caivano?

I imagine there is no proof one way or the other but the guessing is fascinating to me and I would love to hear the opinion of those who know a lot more about the ways of Italy than I do . THanks so much.

[ricbru]

Dear Scorpione,
first of all I would like to let you know that in Italy people started to get the last name around year 1000; last name came out after people were nicknamed...so nick name became a last name; and people whose last name is the name of a villge, town or city were initially Jewish,
I hope it helps,
bye Riccardo

[nuccia]

Dear Scorpione,
first of all I would like to let you know that in Italy people started to get the last name around year 1000; last name came out after people were nicknamed...so nick name became a last name; and people whose last name is the name of a villge, town or city were initially Jewish,
I hope it helps,
bye Riccardo

Thanks Riccardo..this is interesting. So what about the Greek influence in Calabria? Would the same thing have applied?

I'd love to know more...

nuccia

[ricbru]

Yes, of course, I think there are still some villages in Calabria of ancient Greek settlements,
bye Riccardo