Who controlled it? Was it a part of the republic of genoa, and part of liguria? My familys hairy short and tan. and tan, so could it be ligurian ancestry?

I can't find them on ancestry.com, and only know when they emigrated. so can anyone tell me where their roots in Italy are?
All I know so far.

Antonio bellotti Born 1879 Rivergaro, Piacenza Italy. Married maria bonini born 1880.

It seems like theres 80 million people with those names, can anyone ...

No, I'm just saying that the 1930 census taker may have made a mistake. Do the given names and place of residence match up between the 1930 and 1940 census? If so, then the name was probably Bilotta or something like it (e.g., Billotta, Belotta), as per the arrival record.

Well, do you know any ...

I was just responding to Anzio's assertion that "In the 1930s and 40s its very unlikely a family did not know how to spell their own name." The fact that the name was spelled differently doesn't indicate that THEY couldn't spell their name. I wasn't commenting on the pronunciation in Italian.

On ...

It's very common to find the same surname spelled differently in the 1930 and 1940 US census. After all, it was not the respondents who were writing the name but the census taker. Even first names are often butchered.

But what I'm saying is, is it likely or possible that the wrong spelled surname ...

And it is the same people.

Well, my italian line is adopted and im too nervous to ask my family.

Well, the family in question immigrated over, and on the naturalization papers it's spelled bilotta

On the 1930 census, it's spelled belotti

And on the 1940 it's spelled bilotta

So confused, could they have pronounced it like "bulati", or is it all but certain it was pronounced bilotuh?

Balatti sounds most accurate, a fairly uncommon surname found primarily in the Sondrio and Lecco provinces of Italy (Lecco records can be found online from 1866-1910 I think; and if you give me the first name and/ore date I can see what I can find).

There is also Ballati which though it looks ...

Okay, so I want to find records, since my italian branch is biological from an adoption. And I've adked family about it. Anyways, the surname is pronounced(as an american would say "buh-lah-tee". What surnames (in an american pronounciation) would fit that pronounciation? Also, would bilotta be a ...

Thanks

I think he was italian, but he could be french maybe.

His name was peter bilotte (misspelling?)

Born December 26 1903

In new york

If you can find any birth records for him, I would be happy. I don't want a life story, just birth records.

There's a record for peter a bilotti in 1935 in isanti ...

I use the Ellis island site, but some aren't there. How can I find more?

Did you listen to http://www.forvo.com/search/bellotti/ ?

It sounds very similar to your bih-lah-tea with the exception of more like "bell" than "bih" for the first syllable however that may be your ears or the person speaking that makes the difference.

Can you explain a bit better? Have you bih ...

I mean in English though. Would it be bellotti then? What other surnames fit the sound?