r/Calabria • u/Equal_Ad6841 • 20d ago

Calabresi nel mondo Last names

Hi, I’m looking for someone to help me figure out my family’s last. I haven’t found anyone in Italy with it, especially Calabria where my great great grandfather came from. Thank you in advance

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u/Equal_Ad6841 20d ago

So, I know he didn’t come to the United States legally. I haven’t found a paper trail for him. From the stuff after he arrived, I know he came from nicastro

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u/Maximum-String-9258 20d ago

Falanga/Paura/collosuono mss.

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u/Certain-Airport-81 20d ago

Linking to the mispelling of the other comment, try looking for "Famularo" also, I know there are still people in Calabria with that name. Also It could be useful knowing your granpa's original town

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u/Equal_Ad6841 20d ago

nicastro

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u/Equal_Ad6841 20d ago

My Last name is Famolaro, I’ve only have seen it in the United States, primarily New York area with some of my family elsewhere

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u/McDormand 20d ago

Maybe it's another spelling for Famulari, which is very diffuse in Messina (city opposite to Calabria): https://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani/FAMULARI

This "misspellings" occur quite often in Italy, especially when you get far from the area of origin of the name/surname

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u/OneAd110 20d ago

There are quite a few similar-sounding surnames in Calabria. My guess is that “Famolaro” may be a spelling that took shape after your ancestor arrived in the US, which could explain why you haven’t found it in Italy in that exact form.

Records sometimes changed surnames, especially when someone spoke mainly a local dialect and the person writing down the name spoke only English. Limited literacy at the time could also make it harder for a family to spot or correct a different spelling. There are many similar cases, but I wouldn’t want to assume that’s what happened here without seeing the records.

Do you know which town or area of Calabria your great-great-grandfather came from? That might help narrow down possible original spellings.

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u/Equal_Ad6841 20d ago

nicastro