Italian patronyms

+4 votes
136 views
Looking at the birth certificate for Battista Antonio Allaria, it gives his name as  Allaria Gio Batta di Antonio. Allaria is his surname, Gio Batta is his given name (I would normally expect to see it written as one word, Giobatta; or it may be an abbreviation for Giovanni Battista). Antonio is his father's name. I often come across "di so-and-so" in official documents to identify individuals. The profile currently treats Antonio as a middle name. Is this correct?
WikiTree profile: Battista Allaria
in The Tree House by Stephen Heathcote G2G6 Pilot (108k points)

2 Answers

+4 votes
 
Best answer

Original BC

This shows that his given name was Gio Batta.  Note that on previous pages (image  #57 for example) that other children from this area were named identically. Also note that it appears as the 'standard' for the record writer to note the father's name just below the child's name.

I'd have to dig deeper than time allows to understand if this was the writer's shorthand for Giovanni Battista or.......

by Nick Andreola G2G6 Mach 8 (88.0k points)
selected by Stephen Heathcote
Thank you very much! There are other people around this time named Giò Batta, but I think the family knew him as Battista. I will ask his great-niece tomorrow. I am confident we can remove the middle name Antonio.
I looked in the index, and the name is commonly written “Gio Batta.”
I don't envy his great-niece in trying to sort out her family history!--this small commune is very reminiscent of the commune of my origins. Everyone seems to be related to everyone else! Just looking at the birth record previous to Gio Batta's...Antonio Tranquillo Caldani--father Michele and mother Pasquala ALLARIA---probably a cousin/possibly a multiple cousin of Gio Batta.

Good job on clarifying this profile!
Thank you again for your help! This is an isolated mountain valley, where everyone is related to everyone else. The memorial to him (on Largo Allaria, named in his honour) calls him Battista Allaria - I will take a photograph to add to the profile.

And yes, his great-niece confirmed that Antonio was not a middle name, and gave me permission to edit the profile.
+3 votes
Can you show a copy of the record?

In this time period the records should be in the 'standard' format. It would be unusual for a child to be listed as di Antonio (son of) since the father's name is already on the form. More often seen is one or both of the parent's names followed by the di--which would indicate the child's grandparent.

That said...IME, these records are extremely variable by specific location---and sometimes by the sindaco/mayor (or whoever is the record writer) within a location and I usually have to look through a number of the records to try to get the 'usual' pattern before I can attempt to make a call.
by Nick Andreola G2G6 Mach 8 (88.0k points)
I'm looking at this web page: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/estratto-per-riassunto-dai-registro-degli-atti-di-nascita-1.html

It's my opinion that Antonio should not be a middle name on his WikiTree profile, but I wondered whether there was a WikiTree policy on this. I will also consult with his family here in Molini di Triora.
This page is a transcription and the di Antonio absolutely is only indicating who his father is.

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