Salafia

[atriele]

Hi!

I'm from Malta, an island a few miles south of Sicily.

My mother's surname is Salafia and I always wondered about its history. I have been told it is a Sephardic Jewish surname but the person who told me warned me that he was just making a guess. I would greatly appreciate any information you might have about this surname. Thanks.

PS - My mother is of Italian stock.. her grand father was born in Sicily.

[misbris]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Others can better help you with the meaning and history of the name, but here are two sites that can help you discover where in Italy the name exists.

http://www.gens.labo.net/en/cognomi/genera.html

http://italia.indettaglio.it/eng/cognomi/cognomi.html

As you can see it appears in many Sicilian towns.

[PeterTimber]

Salafia is listed as a Malta surname and there are about 70 cities,towns, and villages in Italy having inhabitants whose surnames are Salfia as well. (www.gens.labo.net/en/cognomi for distribution) Clusters

of Salafia are mostly found in SE Sicily (Trapani- Siracusa area) and in Lombardia as well with scattered other areas.

The current 20th listing for Jewish surnames does not have any Salafia listed. Further there is no historic listing for Salafia as being a former Jewish name in Sicily. I can look further if you give me a place of origin for your salafia family in Sicily.

Further there are no Salafia listed in the Italian surname dictionary which means it is either local in origin or imported from abroad and italianized. =Peter=

[atriele]

hi! many thanks for your reply! my great grandfather was called archimede salafia and he was born in siracusa.

the guy who told me about the jewish connection stressed the sephardic origin which i guess would mean a spanish jew... have no idea how to check that though.

i greatly appreciate your help!

[PeterTimber]

There is no Salafia listed for the Trapani-Siracusa area but there might be a listing among the inquisition records in Palermo located in the Archivio di Stato for the 16 to 18th century if your interested in pursuing this avenue.

There is an e-mail address (I have no experience with this to date so please let me know) where you can make inquiry. Sicilyjews@italian-family-history.com Lots of Luck =Peter=

[atriele]

oh that's fabulous! i happen to be a historian and have worked on inquisition documents from malta. so i guess i'll have to visit palaermo soon

many many tahnks and happy christmas!

[PeterTimber]

I believe they are housed with the notarial and military records in Palermo at the section of the provincial archives located at a separate address for the Archivio di Stato at Cortile Gancia #2, Palermo 90133, Sicily. Please keep me informed so that we all beenfit. =Peter=

[misbris]

Here are Italian White Pages listings for the Salafia still in Siracusa.

http://www.paginebianche.it/execute.cgi ... acusa&ind=

[liviomoreno]

This site is about Sephardic genealogy, I did a quick search and Salafia is not listed among the surnames.

http://www.sephardim.com/

[PeterTimber]

There is a large cluster of Salafia in Connecticut here in the USA and a few others in Latin America. I did so because I recalled that a number of conversos immigrated to the western hemisphere during the inquisition. However, I could find no dates earlier than the 1800's which precluded this conclusion. Go to www.familysearch.org under ancestor search and just put in Salafia and nothing else for world distribution of the surname..=Peter=

[uantiti]

Hi,
If this could be of interest I found a possible origin of this surname:
It's now classified as a Sicilian surname (Catania, Syracuse and Ragusa areas). It seems to come from the Arabic word salaf meaning arrogance, haughtiness, probably originating from an old nickname. There is no mention of any Jewish origin.
Ada

[JakDac]

My Grandfather S Salafia to Connecticut in April 1907 on Italia How do I find When he got citizenship ?

[pink67]

From Ancestry.com possible record:

Selected U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1966 (Indexed in World Archives Project)
about Salvatore Salafia
Name: Salvatore Salafia
Birth Place: Italy
Place of Residence: Connecticut
Collection Title: Index to New England Naturalization Petitions, 1791-1906 (M1299)
NARA Series #: M1299
Roll #: 33
Roll Description: S300 (Agnes) - S415 (William)

image:
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVISpH9

Description of database from Ancestry.com

Index to New England Naturalization Petitions, 1791-1906 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1299, 117 rolls); Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

For copies of the original file for naturalizations performed in New England, write to:

National Archives - Northeast Region (Boston)
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02452-6399
Phone: 781-683-0130
Fax: 781-663-0154
E-mail: waltham.archives@nara.gov

Laura

[JakDac]

Thanks Laura
Talked to my mom seem to have the boat he came over in Italia in 1907
This data seems to show he did NOT get citizenship- correct?
Which may be good for me and brothers regarding getting Italian citizenship
Any hints ? Thanks Jak

[pink67]

I would suggest you to post your query opening a "new topic" in this section of the forum:

http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/Foru ... m/f=4.html

There are many valuable persons who are sure glad to answer you... I'm not expert at this.

Laura

edit to add:

possible 1907 arrival manifest for Salvatore Salafia?

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0002