The Region of Aosta in Italy

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Aosta, Valle d'Aosta, Italy
Surnames/tags: Aosta Valle d'Aosta

This page is a place for me and others to put the research thoughts and strategies for researching in the autonomous region Aosta of North Western Italy.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Naming 3 Place Names 1797-1861 4 Records on Ancestry 5 Records on FamilySearch

Introduction

The region of Aosta in Italy, also referred to as Valle d'Aosta, has an interesting history. It started as de Duchy de Aosta, then about the time of Italian unification it became part of the Province of Turin. Then in 1945 it became an autonomous region, meaning that it was allowed to celebrate both the French and Italian cultures. The record collections I have used and take my observations from are 1) Ancestry.com. Aosta, Aosta, Italy, Tribunale Civil Registration Records, 1866-1939 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1894/ and 2) Liste di leva del circondario di Aosta, 1792-1904, on Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/767962?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Naming

The women keep her maiden name throughout her married life, including on her death record.

The surname is not translated between French and Italian, but remain the same regardless of the language the record is written in.

The given name is listed in the language of the record. If the record is written in French, then the French version of the name is used.

When the record is written in Italian than the Italian equative is used. For example: Joseph (the French) becomes Guiseppe when the record is in Italian

Place Names 1797-1861

Etroubles, Gignod, Aosta until 1820 with reference to Duche D'Aosta

Etroubles, Gignod, Aosta from 1820 to 1835 with no reference to Duche D’Aosta

Etroubles, Gignod, Aosta from 1836 to 1841 with reference to the province of d’Aosta

Etroubles, Gignod, Turin from 1842 to at least 1861 when I had stopped the survey

Records on Ancestry

Ancestry.com. Aosta, Aosta, Italy, Tribunale Civil Registration Records, 1866-1939 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1894/ This collection contains Birth, death and marriage records. It is the digitalized images of the original records. It is set-up by locality, record type, year. There are some indexes, but not all localities have all the years or all the records or indexes. For example the 1889 index, for birth and death, for Allein is missing, but all other years are there and the actual record book for 1889 is there. The records are in French up until about 1912, with the exception of 1875 which is in Italian. In 1875 forms were started, but that is the only year in the 1800’s that is written in Italian, all other years the forms are in French. Prior to 1875 the records are in long hand and in French.

Records on FamilySearch

Liste di leva del circondario di Aosta, 1792-1904, on Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/767962?availability=Family%20History%20Library This collection only contains the names of all males born since about 1796 and is for military purposes. It contains the names of the boy, his birth date and place and the names of his parents. Including his mother’s maiden name.