Surname morphology

[MarcuccioV]

Can anyone shine any light on surnames that have similar (or identical) pronunciations but differ greatly in spelling..? Just as an example: The surnames Maceri, Moceri, Mauceri, Misseri, Macari and Massari. Is it possible that at least some (if not all) of these can have a common root but morphed into their common spellings due to functional illiteracy and spelling traditions of different communes/regions based on phonetic sound/local dialect..?

I ask as I have indirect (so far) connections to at least four of the above in my family tree which have either tenuous or no connections to each other (at least based on what research I've done)...

Any insights..?

[darkerhorse]

I think your on the right track. It's probably near impossible to sort it out. One thing you could do is to research different word meanings. For example, I believe Mauro refers to dark color while Mario refers to the sea. In my family some of the Mauros who emigrated used Mario here. So Mauro/Mario are unrelated. I wonder if you would find some word or name derivations in an Italian dictionary.

You also could do a study of the history with a town or region. I saw variations in my surname in the late 1600s to middle 1700s when it standardized from then on. It might be because the first ones there spelled it differently than how the natives would spell or pronounce it, and the rest is history.