Today I want to concentrate on the Morabito surname which happens to be the most common surname in Ardore, Reggio Calabria. Presently, there are about 141 persons living in Ardore with this surname, followed by the surname Zappavigna*. I still have not found proof that the surname originated there but so far I am leaning towards that very real possibility. My Paternal Grandfather, Bruno was born in Ardore and his Great Grandmother was Catarina Morabito born about 1784. I recently discovered that Nonno's oldest sister, Maria Rosa Carmina, also married a Morabito which makes things really interesting. Chances are they were not related and that if you were from this town, would also would have a Morabito in your family tree, since it's as common a name in Ardore as Smith is in the US -there were 13 births with this surname in 1895 alone which is lots considering it's not a very big town- but none the less I have started entering all those born with the surname into a database and connecting the families.
*Source information from Calabrian Surnames Search Engine results.
Here's a link to Maria Rosa and Saverio Antonio's Marriage Act.
Morabito's Born in 1895
Act #37 Rosa, daughter of Domenico and Teresina Codispoti
Act #38 Concetta, daughter of Saverio and Rosa Mariantonia Morabito
Act #72 Maria Teresa, daughter of Bruno and Teresa Romeo
Act #74 Maria Rosa, daughter of Nicola and Maria Ana Gelonese
Act #90 Maria Giuseppa, daughter of Leonardo and Elisabetta Morabito
Act #122 Carmela Maria, daughter of Vincenzo and Mariantonia Morabito
Act #132 Giuseppe, son of Francesco and Giuseppa Agostino
Act #166 Ferdinando Bruno, son of Giuseppe and Giovanna Scruci
Act #177 Domenico Antonio, son of Carmine and Teresa Pedavali
Act #193 Rosario Domencio, son of Carlo and Rosa Morabito
Act #226 Maria Rosa, daughter of Antonio and Mariantonia Morabito
Act #246 Natalina Maria Rosa, daughter of Domenico and Concetta Cristarella
You can view the actual images of these births on my website Calabria Exchange - Ardore . The quality is not that good since I uploaded them a while ago before I learned how to properly fix them in PSP or Photoshop but they are still legible and helpful to someone researching the name.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
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3 comments :
Hi, my family also comes from Calabria. Molochio to be precise. My great grandfather (Salvatore) came over in 1903 and married my great grandmother (Filomena) in 1908.
I remember reading in high school that our surname came from Spain. It comes from the Spanish word "mora" for mulberry.
Here is a copy and paste:
Interestingly, family names such as Morabito, Murabito and Mirabito are common in western Sicily, the Aeolian Islands and southern Calabria in Italy. These names may have appeared in this region as early as the 11th century, when Robert Guiscard and the Normans defeated the Saracens (Muslims) in Sicily. In addition to southern Italy, there are also sizable populations of Mourabit (also spelled Murabit) in modern-day Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania.
I feel your pain ... my Grandfather was born in Ardore, and his last name was ... Romeo. That's a very common name in Italy, and Reggio Calabria is full of them. My Grandmother's mother (both maternal grandparents) was from Benestare, and I'm finding her mother's surname also mixed in with Romeos.
I'm having the same trouble with my father's family in Abruzzo ... so many branches with the same surname ...
Patti Frabotta
The more I look into this surname the more I find it actually is derived from Morabit or Murabit so it's actually a Middle Eastern surname! There was a whole website devoted to this surname - I'll need to find it and link it here. As for Romeo - yup, it\s also a biggie!!
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