n the past because they weren’t labelled clearly, and they were all in one big folder called ‘Documents’.
So, what did you do? Well, first of all, you probably started renaming the documents, so you knew what was what. But then, you might also have started creating folders inside the main ‘Documents’ folder. Perhaps one folder was called ‘Business Letters’, and another ‘My Research’, etc.
But soon, you created still MORE documents. For example, perhaps your research diversified, and now you wanted to separate your notes for different branches of the family. So, you started to create subfolders inside the folder called ‘My Research’.
By labelling your files clearly and creating a system of folders and subfolders, it became easier for you to identify and find the correct files when you needed them.
In simple terms, we can say that creating a structure is fundamental to being able to identify things and to distinguish one thing from another.
Name, Surname, Soprannome – An Increasing Need for Accuracy
If you think about it, names, surnames and soprannomi serve much the same purpose as the filing system on our computer:
- Our personal names are like the documents, in that each document is an individual entity.
- Our surnames are like the folders in which our documents are stored, in that they group many individuals into different categories.
- And, in the case of Trentino and other Italian ancestry, our soprannomi are like the subfolders within those folders, in that they create sub-groups within the group.
Just as your system for naming files was less complex when you started out using your computer, naming people was also less complex in the past, when the population was smaller, and most people were living in small, rural hamlets or homesteads.
Indeed, in the beginning, people were known mainly by their personal names along with their father’s name and/or their village of origin. Thus, in early records (and sometime even after surnames were already in use), you will see things like ‘Sebastiano of Sesto’, or ‘Nicolo’ son of Sebastiano of Sesto’.
But just like when you created folders because you had created so many documents you could no longer find what you were looking for, people started using surnames.
The Italian word for surname is ‘cognome’ (plural = cognomi):
Con = with
Nome = name
When the words are joined together, the ‘n’ in ‘con’ is changed to a ‘g’, which creates the sound ‘nya’ (like the ‘gn’ ‘lasagne’).
Thus, cognome means ‘with the name’, implying it is a kind of partner to the name.
While some surnames on the Italian peninsula appear in records as early as the 1200s or so, you don’t really see them becoming the norm until around the 1400s, and even then, they are often a bit ‘fluid’ and still in the state of change/clarification.
The ‘Black Death’ (1346-53) dealt a severe blow to the European population, wiping out an estimated 50% of the population. But gradually, and additional outbreaks of plague notwithstanding, the population not only restored itself, but eventually expanded by the 1600s.
Then, we see a situation where there was a limited number of cognomi within a small community, but lots of sons were being born, all naming their sons after their fathers. Just like your research documents, things started to get confusing. This is when soprannomi became necessary.
Like cognome, the word soprannome is also comprised of two Italian words:
‘Sopra’ = above or ‘on top of’
‘Nome’ = name
When the words are joined together, the ‘n’ is doubled.
Thus, together, the term means ‘on top of the name’.
What are Soprannomi and Why Are They Used?
As you might have already surmised:
A soprannome is an additional name used that is used to distinguish one branch of a family from others who share the same surname.
I think it is useful to think of a soprannome as a kind of ‘bolt on’ family surname, an idea that is also consistent with literal meaning of the word (‘on top of the name’).
Just as creating subfolders can be extremely helping in helping organise and identify individual files on our computer, soprannomi can be e