Catanaza or Catanese Surname?

[J.B.]

While looking at the possible maiden name of the mother of my second great grandfather Giacomo Bevinetto (1874-1962, born in Gibellina, Sicily), it appears that the maiden name was Catanaza, according to a couple of sources I've encountered. However, that either appears to be a very rare surname in Italy, or a misspelling of one. The closest to that I have found is Catanese, named after the city of Catania, which makes me believe that was the original form, and it has been misspelled. Here is where I have seen the spelling of this Catanaza surname:

http://www.myheritage.com/names/giacomo_bevinetto

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPC1-SMD

Here's a reference that points to a possible connection between the two spellings:

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.catanese/12/mb.ashx

Are they different surnames, or the same one, meant to be spelled Catanese? Giacomo Bevinetto also married Margherita, whose maiden surname I believe to be Catanzaro, although it points to origins from the city of Catanzaro in Calabria. I could not find any further information about her family, other than the fact she married Giacomo.

If you type in Bevinetto within the link below, you will see some death records which show both the Catanzaro (spelled Catenzaro, here) and Catanaza surnames:

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi

Thank you for your help!

[Michael31]

http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs=catanoso&dv=
Catanoso in Italy

http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs= ... =Gibellina
Catanoso town: Gibellina

http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs=catana&dv=
Catana in Italy

[adelfio]

You can try this link
http://www.avitrees.com/welcome.jsp

Marty

[carubia]

The fact that someone's surname is the name of a place does not indicate that the person or his or her immediate ancestors were from there; rather it indicates that some probably distant ancestor was, or at least was believed to be so. So don't read too much into the fact that Margherita's surname was Catanzaro. That name is in fact common in western Sicily.

[J.B.]

Thank you, everyone. I believe that this information has been helpful for me, although the exact name spelled "Catanaza" is still a mystery. I am not sure if it is Catanoso, and I don't believe I've spotted any related name in the area of Gibellina, at least the new town after the earthquake. I'll try to check some of the other towns and cities in the Trapani region.

[Tencat951]

The Catanese name is pronunced Catanaza.

Has anyone found families originating from Catania with this last name?

My grandfather Catanese came from a small town near Naples, Sciscione, and growing up this is all I knew about my Italian heritage, that I had grandparents and great grands from this Naples’ area town. But I think further back they may have come from Sicily and am trying g to research that.

[Tencat951]

I tried to post a reply to this conundrum - Catanaza v. Catanese - but it does not appear?
The correct pronunciation of the Italian name, Catanese, is Ca-ta-nay'-za with the accent on the third syllable. So if an English speaking person heard the name pronounced they might likely write it as Catanaza. Many immigrants coming through Ellis Island often had their names misspelled for this reason.

[carubia]

Many immigrants coming through Ellis Island often had their names misspelled for this reason.

The misspelling didn't derive from their passage through Ellis Island. The passenger manifests were filled out at the point of departure by Italians.

[antcat53]

catanese.PNG

Yes, maybe this info may help, if it deemed reliable!