Ajello or Aiello from Palermo

[johnmilano]

Hi All,

I have cousins in Sicilia, in the city of Palermo.
My (great) Aunt Angie used to correspond with them
in the 70s and she even stayed with them in
1976; however, when she died, the letters
with my relatives were either lost or thrown out.
Either way, my relatives (cousins) in Sicily, their address was
lost. Not only is their addresses lost, but I also do not
know their names. Unfortunately, my cousins, who's
siblings were of my Aunt Angie never asked
for these questions: names or addresses, at the time.

So now I'm trying to see how I can possibly find
my relatives in Palermo. Is there any hope, or is all lost?

I have limited information.

They were the relatives of my great grandfather Cosimo
Aiello (whom we are 99% sure the original spelling of
the last name was Ajello, with a J ).
He came to America from Palermo in 1924.
He was with the Italian Merchant Marines, and we believed
eventually jumped ship. He eventually found his
way into Bay Ridge Brooklyn, New York.
He got his citizenship in 1946.

Name: Cosimo Ajello (or Aiello)
Birth: 19 April 1894 [Palermo, Sicily]
Death: 7 December 1963 [Brooklyn, New York]
Place: Palermo, SI
His Mother: Angelina (or Angela)
His wife: Antoinette Aiello [Maiden surname: Cimato]
His Children: Angela, Margherita, and Lucille Aiello

Anybody have any ideas?
I only know my cousins live in the city of Palermo.
I believe, but not sure of, that they also
have a summer/vacation home in Taormina.

I'd be grateful for any info/help/advice,
JOHN

[jcsm400]

Hi John,

Try this site.....Italian white pages.

http://wwww.paginebianche.it/index.html

Cognome= surname
Dove=location
Cerca=search

Hope it helps.

jcsm

[johnmilano]

I've tried it, but there's a lot of Ajello's in Palermo.
I wouldn't know where to begin.

[jcsm400]

Hi John,

Other than writing potential relative letters, maybe an announcement in the local newspaper or contacting the churches & asking them to make an announcement?

Perhaps other members will have some better ideas.

jcsm

[johnmilano]

thats an idea, thanks.

[ricbru]

Hi All,

I have cousins in Sicilia, in the city of Palermo.
My (great) Aunt Angie used to correspond with them
in the 70s and she even stayed with them in
1976; however, when she died, the letters
with my relatives were either lost or thrown out.
Either way, my relatives (cousins) in Sicily, their address was
lost. Not only is their addresses lost, but I also do not
know their names. Unfortunately, my cousins, who's
siblings were of my Aunt Angie never asked
for these questions: names or addresses, at the time.

So now I'm trying to see how I can possibly find
my relatives in Palermo. Is there any hope, or is all lost?

I have limited information.

They were the relatives of my great grandfather Cosimo
Aiello (whom we are 99% sure the original spelling of
the last name was Ajello, with a J ).
He came to America from Palermo in 1924.
He was with the Italian Merchant Marines, and we believed
eventually jumped ship. He eventually found his
way into Bay Ridge Brooklyn, New York.
He got his citizenship in 1946.

Name: Cosimo Ajello (or Aiello)
Birth: 19 April 1894 [Palermo, Sicily]
Death: 7 December 1963 [Brooklyn, New York]
Place: Palermo, SI
His Mother: Angelina (or Angela)
His wife: Antoinette Aiello [Maiden surname: Cimato]
His Children: Angela, Margherita, and Lucille Aiello

Anybody have any ideas?
I only know my cousins live in the city of Palermo.
I believe, but not sure of, that they also
have a summer/vacation home in Taormina.

I'd be grateful for any info/help/advice,
JOHN

Hello John,
to get in contact with your relatives in Italy there are two ways:
1) write a letter to everyone hoping someone will reply
or
2) make a genealogy research

About point 2) you can do this way:

Write to Palermo vital record to have the integral copy of Cosimo Ajello birth record (copia integrale dell'atto di nascita).
Write a request, only in Italian, put it in an envelope+ another self addressed envelopo+ an italian stamp or international reply coupon+ photocopy of your ID+ 5 eurocents for the cost of the integral copy and send everything to

Comune
Ufficio di Stato Civile
Piazza Giulio Cesare 52
90127 Palermo
Italy

After you receive the integral copy of birth record, you read the names and age of Cosimo Ajello's both parents.
With these informations you can request, writing always in italian, a family historical certificate (Certificato storico di famiglia) where there are stated names and datas of Cosimo's parents and siblings. This certificates usually has a cost of € 2,58 euros for each name found. This request has to be sent to the address as above

After you get the Certificato storico di famiglia, you can write another request always in italian, to Palermo family record office, to request a certificate about Cosimo's sibiling's descendent's family certificates or check the names on the Palermo whitepages

The address of Palermo family record office is

Comune
Ufficio Anagrafe
Viale Lazio 199A
90100 Palermo
Italy

When you receive the certificate you know the names of your relatives and where they live

I hope it helps, bye Riccardo

[johnmilano]

Hi Riccardo,

thanks for your response!

I'm going to email you at your gmail.com
address, if that's ok.

JOHN

[Nello-LosAngeles]

Aiello would be the name. The Italian alphabet does not have a j. In old hand writting the i decended below the line and would look like a j to us. I think am correct this. Someone else should confirm it.

Nello

[johnmilano]

Well, it is true that there are no "j"'s in the italian alphabet... however; with Sicilian, it's a different story. Sicilian is it's own language that's
influenced with greek, spanish and arabic. The J, and the surname Ajello, is most likely long ago from Spanish origin. If you search the Italian White Pages for the surname Ajello in Palermo, you'll find many many many of them. It's a 'common' sicilian surname.

[Nello-LosAngeles]

John,
Thanks for the info. I didn't known that Sicily used a different written language.
Nello

[johnmilano]

Nello,

no problem, if it interests you and if you want to look into it ,
this might interest you:
http://ilsiciliano.net/page30_our_langu ... istory.php

ciao!
JOHN

John,
Thanks for the info. I didn't known that Sicily used a different written language.
Nello