Need help identifying name of an Italian city

Question

Could someone please identify the name of this city in Italy?

Comments

Hi Mike, sometimes looking at the entire form or page/s if it's all in the same handwriting can help identify letters in a word.

Knowing the date the page was written might also help as boundaries changed in Europe at various times.

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It could be an older spelling of termini immerse in Sicily

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Surname Lazzara b. 1877.

Answer 1

It looks like "Tirrenia, Mare, Italy"...

~Brian Kerr

Answer 2

Perhaps an older spelling of Termini Imerese in Sicily

Comments

This is likely it. The immigration manifest says fisherman ("fisher") and it's a coastal town. There is also a Lazzara Pizza in NYC (amazing thin crust square pizza) and they are all from Palermo.

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Just FYI, the surname as it appears in Termini pre-1900 records is most often LaZara; Lazzara is much rarer. Azzara is also found in a few records.

Answer 3

Hi, maybe someone was trying to write 'Termini Imerese' - a town in Sicily? Do you have a general idea of which area in Italy? Surname of person? That might also help narrow down the region.

Answer 4

Hi

I would read "Teronine Gemerese" or "Teronine Genovese". So I searched for a list of all comunes of Liguria (where Genova is located), but nothing fits.

There's a tool online: http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turismo-viaggi-e-tradizioni-italia?cognome=Lazzara&x=0&y=0
It shows you the spread of a surname in Italy nowadays, according to the adress or phone books. It can give you an idea where to search for a surname. In this case, sicily would fit.

Comments

Thank you for that, very useful tool.

Answer 5

Yeah, it's Termini Imerese. There's a fabulous indexed database of Termini Imerese records that you can subscribe to for $50 a year:
http://termini-imerese.org/

Comments

Greatly appreciated Frank. It appears many of those records are actually available for free on Familysearch. The individual I am looking for is a Lucio Lazzara, but last name is also spelled Lazara apparently. He arrived in New York from Naples in 1901 on board the Scotia with his brother Leonardo. Their final destination was a brother Fillipo's place in Pittsburgh, PA.

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYT715_203-0484?pId=4001417774

I later found a WWI draft card with date of bith 15 May 1877 in Termine Imerese:

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005271255_00621?pId=71924078

Then I found what I think is the correct location in the Termine Imerese, birth records (quindici maggio 1877)

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9MZ-5HBB?i=24&cc=1947613&cat=623546

However, an entry for a Lucio (or perhaps latin Lucius?) doesn't seem to be there? There are only a couple of pages for that date, as far as I can tell. Can you read Italian?

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No you want 1877 birth #436: Luciano, son of Giuseppe LaZara and Maria D'Atillo. Born 5 Aug 1877. That's the only Lu* Laz* name I find in TI.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the date of birth used on US documents; many immigrants had no idea of their actual birth date.

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Thanks, yes his WWII registration says 5 Aug 1877:

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1002/images/PA-2240699-2583?pId=2402753