Indexing Italian Death Records
I have a record for an infant death in 1843 with the name Domenico Porticello, Projetto. This is the third time I have seen Porticello Projetto used as as surname. Some infants had a mother listed, others had no parents recorded. Is this how they identify an orphan? How would I index the surname.
Thanks.
Answers
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please give the batch code [XXXX-XXX] so someone can help with your question
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This is the batch.
Italia (Antenati Italiani), Reggio Calabria—Stato Civile, 1808–1912 [Parte A][MSYZ-N3T]
Thank you.
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Hi, I’ve done some research and found my answer at the following link. The surname is Proietti.
Apparently Proietti is one of the surnames used for foundlings. I copied an excerpt from the article below.
Orphans and foundlings in Italy were given special names
Names can tell a lot when researching our Italian roots. But there are some names which tell a sadder tale back several generations or so. Orphans and foundlings in Italy were given special names. Proietti, Esposito, Trovato, Colombo, Colombini, Casadei, are frequent Italian surnames that reflect a harsh reality that existed in the Italy of our grandparents. A reality that may seem incomprehensible if we do not know the social and economic particularities of the time in which they lived.
All are a testament to those who came before and the trials they must have gone throught to get through troubled times of war or poverty or disgrace.
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I suspect that Projetto / Proietto is not the surname in this case. Porticello was probably the surname assigned by the registrar at birth and Proietto was just a modifier. You could pull up the original birth record in Antenati to check for sure. This comune might have used Porticello as a standard surname for foundlings, just as Esposito was used in Napoli.
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Thank you. I’ve been indexing death records from Reggio Calabria where my grandparents came from. I’ve seen quite a few foundling records with Esposito, Marina and Porticello. I noticed they were all infants that died usually in their first few months. Nurses were listed sometimes, but no parents, so I started to research and discovered stories about the “foundling wheels” that were used. So sad, but an interesting part of history.
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