Italy Genealogical Records

Italy Birth & Baptism Records

Italy Birth & Baptism Index (1806-1900)

An index of close to 2 million records of births and baptisms, including parents' names and other details.

Miscellaneous Births & Baptisms Index (1534-1983)

A small index to several-hundred-thousand records from select countries.

Italy Marriage & Divorce Records

Italy Marriage Index (1809-1900)

An index to over 400,000 marriage records, including date and place of marriage and the names of the bride and groom.

Miscellaneous Marriage Index (1662-1945)

An index to more than 30,000 marriage records, including personal details, names of relations and particulars of marriage.

Italy Death & Burial Records

Italy Death & Burial Index (1809-1900)

An index to over 430,000 death and burial records, which may list the names of parents and spouses; as well as details of deaths and burials.

Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Registry (1550-Present)

A searchable database of over 1 million Jewish burials with photographs of the matzevot.

Newspapers Covering Italy

Name Card Index to AP Stories (1905-1990)

An index to over 2.1 million people mentioned in Associated Press stories, including name, subject, location, date and a reference to the article.

Newspaper Archive: Italy (1942-1978)

Text-searchable copies of tens of thousands of Italian newspaper articles.

Subject Card Index to AP Stories (1937-1985)

An index to around 500,000 Associated Press articles.

AP Stories & Newsfeatures (1937-1985)

An index to and digital images of hundreds-of-thousands of world newspaper articles.

Italy Immigration & Travel Records

Italians to America Index (1855-1900)

Data files relating to the immigration of Italians to the United States. Includes details such as name, date and place of immigration, gender, age, birth place, occupation, ship arrived on, port of departure, literacy, residence, intended place of habitation and other details.

Italian Arrival in Louisiana (1905-1910)

An index to names, ages, occupations, native countries or towns and destinations for more than 7,000 Italian immigrants.

Italy Military Records

US WWII European Theater Army Records (1942-1946)

Administrative, strategic, and other documents relating to U.S. operations in Europe during World War II.

Register of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (1945)

Details of around 120,000 European Jews saved from concentration camps and ghettos.

US WWI Officer Experience Reports (1917-1918)

These officer experience reports for World War I contain correspondence, drawings, maps, plans, photographs, and reports maintained by the American Expeditionary Forces. They document activities of engineer units on the Western Front, Italy, and during the occupation of Germany.

US Supreme War Council Records (1914-1918)

The records of the American Section of the Supreme War Council consist of letters, reports, studies, minutes, cablegrams, charts, maps, pamphlets, and books sent to and received from American, French, British, and Italian sources.

British Affairs from the Archives of Milan (1385-1618)

Calendars to records relating to Britain from Venetian archives.

British Affairs from the Archives of Venice (1202-1675)

Calendars to records relating to Britain from Venetian archives.

Papal Registers Relating to Britain & Ireland (1198-1578)

Extracted records from Vatican archives relating to the British Isles.

US Supreme War Council Records (1914-1918)

The records of the American Section of the Supreme War Council consist of letters, reports, studies, minutes, cablegrams, charts, maps, pamphlets, and books sent to and received from American, French, British, and Italian sources.

Italy Directories & Gazetteers

CIA World Factbook (1994)

A statistic and descriptive gazetteer of nations.

World Foreign Gazetteer (1998)

Useful for locating places, this searchable gazetteer gives brief details, latitude and longitude for more than 1.5 million features, places and regions throughout the world.

Crane's Directory & Buyer's Guide (1899-1900)

A directory listing manufactures in Britain, Europe and Australasia.

Italy Cemeteries

Billion Graves (1200-Present)

Photographs and transcriptions of millions of gravestones from cemeteries around the world.

Italy Histories & Books

Ancestry Member Photos & Documents (6000 BC-Present)

Over 60 million historic photographs and documents submitted to Ancestry. This rich collection contains many rare sources of interest to local historians and will be relevant to most genealogical research.

Ancestry Member Stories (6000 BC-Present)

Over 7 million remembrances and historic details submitted by Ancestry members. Useful for local historians.

Register of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (1945)

Details of around 120,000 European Jews saved from concentration camps and ghettos.

Italy Occupation & Business Records

Crane's Directory & Buyer's Guide (1899-1900)

A directory listing manufactures in Britain, Europe and Australasia.

Cricket Archive (1844-Present)

A database of cricket scores and players.

Pedigrees & Family Trees Covering Italy

Monarch and Nobles of Medieval Italy (476-1600)

The lineages of Italian royalty and nobility, with biographical details and extracts from historic documents.

FamilySearch Community Trees (6000 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.

Ancestry Member Family Trees (6000 BC-Present)

A compilation of lineage-linked family trees submitted by Ancestry users. The database contains over 2 billion individuals and is searchable by numerous metrics.

Genealogics (1400 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked families. It largely covers royalty and nobility, but also contains actors, footballers and American presidents.

Ancestry World Tree (6000 BC-1997)

A collection of legacy trees submitted by Ancestry users containing nearly 400 million individuals.

Italy Royalty, Nobility & Heraldry Records

Monarch and Nobles of Medieval Italy (476-1600)

The lineages of Italian royalty and nobility, with biographical details and extracts from historic documents.

FamilySearch Community Trees (6000 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.

Heraldry Clipart (1189-Present)

A growing collection of heraldic and related clip art that can be used to reconstruct a families' arms. Includes packs for British, German, Austrian, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Polish, Portuguese, French, Swiss and Dutch arms. Images are available in a variety of formats including vectors.

Genealogics (1400 BC-Present)

A searchable database of linked families. It largely covers royalty and nobility, but also contains actors, footballers and American presidents.

Italy Maps

Italy Surname Distribution Map (2001)

A free service that shows where surnames are concentrated in Italy.

Old Maps Online (1497-2010)

An interactive index to thousands of maps covering the world, continents, countries and regions. The majority of maps cover Britain and Ireland.

Italy Reference Works

Italy Surname Distribution Map (2001)

A free service that shows where surnames are concentrated in Italy.

Heraldry Clipart (1189-Present)

A growing collection of heraldic and related clip art that can be used to reconstruct a families' arms. Includes packs for British, German, Austrian, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Polish, Portuguese, French, Swiss and Dutch arms. Images are available in a variety of formats including vectors.

Historical Description

Italy is a most fruitfull and goodly Region, situate under a Clime most temperate, commodious for traffick, and most fertil for Corn and Herbage. It contains in length 1020 miles, and in breadth at the broadest not above 410.

It is an Island almost in shape of a Mans Leg, being bounded on the East, with the Adriatick Sea; South and West, with the Tyrrene Seas; and North, with the Alpes.

Fertility

It aboundeth with Corn, Wine, and Oyl; yields plenty of Orangetrees, and the like fruit, as Citrons, Limmons, and Cedar-trees: and of these fruits they transport great store into foreign parts. Also they have Woods of Chesnut-trees, little esteemed amongst them, only the poor people eating some of them, and with the rest they seed their Hogs. Also they have plenty of Almond-trees, and some Pomegranates; and also the Cyprus, Poplar, and the Oake, so that you would say, the whole Province were but as one Garden.

Natures and Manners of the People

The people for the most part are honourable, courteous, prudent, and grave withal; to their superiors obedient; to equals respective; to inferiors courteous; to strangers affable, and desirous by kind offices to win their love; and in expence and love of his money very wary.

Apparel

In apparel they are modest; in furniture of house, sumptuous.

Diet

In their Diet, compared with the English or French, they are most sparing; generally they require small preparation or furniture of their table; they eat neatly and modestly; they seldome make feasts, but if they make any, they make them sumptuous, and thas much more than ours. Their greatest expences are about their Gardens, in fitting places for birding, in drawing water to them, and adorning the Conduits head with Imagery, in Chappels, and other buildings.

The usual division is into 6 parts, Lombardy, Tuscany, the Land of the Church, Naples, Genea, and the Land of Venice.

But according to the present divers Principalities that are, it is divided into

The greater, as: The Kingdome of Naples, The Papacy, The Commonwealth of Venice, The Dukedome of Florence, The Dukedome of Millain. The lesser, as: The Dukedome of Mantua, The Dukedome of Urbine, The Principality of Parma,The State of Genoa, The State of Luca.

A Geographical Description of the World (1671) by George Meriton

The Kingdom of Italy, composed of 69 provinces, has a total area of 120,450 square miles and a population of over 38,500,000, exclusive of the large number of foreign tourists and residents. Of late years successful efforts have been made to develop the wine trade with this country. Our exports to Italy consist chiefly of coal, machinery, and metals, hardware, earthenware, cottons, yarns, woollens, chemicals, and all sorts of manufactured goods. In return we draw from Italy in normal times large supplies of fruits of all kinds, wines, olive-oil, vegetables, silk, hides, stones and slates, dyes, chemicals, &c. The cultivation of silk is now an important industry. The manufactures include straw hats (those of Leghorn being famous), woollen and silk and cotton goods and textile manufactures generally; various objects of art, Venetian glass, motor cars, machinery, chemical products, &c. The mineral wealth of Italy is considerable, Sicily producing sulphur in enormous quantities, while iron, copper, zinc, and manganese are also abundant. There is a continual va-et-vient of visitors, principally from England and America, and a large resident population of wealthy foreigners, with the result that goods and produce of English origin are always in demand. Imports from United Kingdom, 1929 £45,326,231. Exports to this country, £17,880,532 The most densely populated cities are Rome, the chief city (650,000), Naples (723,208), Turin (427,733), Milan (599,200), Palermo (341,656), Genoa (272,0771 Florence (232,860), Catania (211,699), Venice (160,727), Leghorn (105,322), Bari (103,522), and each of these has a floating population of rich tourists.

The Newspaper Press Directory and Advertisers' Guide (1922)

Most Common Surnames in Italy

RankSurnameIncidenceFrequency
1Rossi347,2881:176
2Russo220,4721:277
3Ferrari196,5291:311
4Esposito155,3591:394
5Colombo133,3811:459
6Bianchi133,3801:459
7Romano116,9711:523
8Ricci92,6671:660
9Gallo89,9041:680
10Dal87,3351:700
11Bruno87,2311:701
12Greco85,4341:716
13Marino85,0521:719
14Conti80,8421:756
15Giordano80,4861:760
16Rizzo77,7451:787
17de Luca77,4901:789
18Costa76,3121:801
19Mancini75,9321:805
20Lombardi71,0731:860
21Barbieri68,9491:887
22Fontana67,1291:911
23Moretti66,6221:918
24Mariani63,7591:959
25Caruso62,2441:983
26Galli62,0561:986
27Ferrara60,3171:1,014
28Santoro59,2531:1,032
29Rinaldi58,1141:1,052
30Longo58,0921:1,053
31Villa57,8091:1,058
32Sala57,5111:1,063
33Leone56,8581:1,076
34Martini56,6411:1,080
35Dalla55,7941:1,096
36D'Angelo53,8071:1,137
37Bianco53,4681:1,144
38Martinelli53,3661:1,146
39Gatti52,8321:1,158
40Vitale52,0001:1,176
41Serra51,5491:1,186
42Coppola50,7991:1,204
43Gentile50,1951:1,218
44Cattaneo49,5961:1,233
45Ferri49,1721:1,244
46Messina48,7791:1,254
47Monti48,6551:1,257
48Marchetti48,4581:1,262
49Marini48,4401:1,263
50Fabbri48,2201:1,268
51Ferraro47,5591:1,286
52Lombardo46,9841:1,302
53Testa46,1881:1,324
54de Santis46,0521:1,328
55Grasso45,5761:1,342
56Parisi44,8071:1,365
57Amato44,7361:1,367
58de Angelis44,5131:1,374
59Pellegrini44,2581:1,382
60Riva43,4951:1,406
61Grassi43,1401:1,418
62Palumbo42,6881:1,433
63Conte42,0661:1,454
64Morelli41,7141:1,466
65Brambilla41,4281:1,476
66Sanna40,8881:1,496
67Farina40,7921:1,499
68Benedetti40,7611:1,500
69Pellegrino40,0991:1,525
70Valentini39,8921:1,533
71Rizzi39,8081:1,536
72Franco39,1731:1,561
73Caputo39,0141:1,568
74Carbone38,7121:1,580
75Fiore38,6721:1,581
76de Rosa38,6131:1,584
77Barone38,5541:1,586
78D'Amico38,3211:1,596
79Mazza38,1441:1,603
80Silvestri38,0181:1,609
81Martino37,8891:1,614
82Bernardi37,5941:1,627
83Rossetti37,3851:1,636
84Palmieri36,8711:1,659
85Giuliani36,4741:1,677
86Orlando36,0131:1,698
87Piras35,9341:1,702
88Locatelli35,8631:1,705
89Basile35,5821:1,719
90Castelli35,4351:1,726
91Pagano35,1551:1,740
92Ruggiero35,0891:1,743
93Sorrentino35,0091:1,747
94Pozzi34,7851:1,758
95Romeo34,3571:1,780
96Bellini34,0221:1,798
97Montanari33,9851:1,800
98Fumagalli33,9741:1,800
99Poli33,9241:1,803
100Rota33,8731:1,805
101Negri33,7181:1,814
102Vitali33,3101:1,836
103Ferrero33,2871:1,837
104Milani33,2791:1,838
105Costantini33,1861:1,843
106di Stefano33,1741:1,844
107Ferretti33,0381:1,851
108Battaglia32,7701:1,866
109Mantovani32,6471:1,873
110D'Agostino32,5581:1,878
111Moro32,3561:1,890
112Perrone32,2351:1,897
113Fusco32,0201:1,910
114Guerra31,8971:1,917
115Sartori31,7061:1,929
116Donati31,6711:1,931
117Basso31,3951:1,948
118Piazza30,8061:1,985
119de Simone30,4771:2,007
120Calabrese30,3751:2,013
121Molinari30,1041:2,032
122Catalano30,0911:2,032
123Pinna29,9711:2,041
124Leonardi29,8571:2,048
125Meloni29,7731:2,054
126Proietti29,6771:2,061
127Spinelli29,1771:2,096
128Ruggeri29,1261:2,100
129Zanetti29,0901:2,102
130Bruni28,8581:2,119
131Marchi28,5841:2,140
132Bassi28,4951:2,146
133Ventura28,2181:2,167
134Santini28,1991:2,169
135Olivieri28,1891:2,170
136Giorgi27,9251:2,190
137Magnani27,9071:2,191
138Melis27,7351:2,205
139Carta27,6771:2,210
140Motta27,6661:2,211
141Pace27,6191:2,214
142Grimaldi27,6001:2,216
143Marinelli27,3551:2,236
144Garofalo27,2771:2,242
145Mele27,2061:2,248
146Manca27,1711:2,251
147Aiello27,0931:2,257
148Beretta26,9501:2,269
149Monaco26,8761:2,276
150D'Ambrosio26,8691:2,276
151Cavallo26,8351:2,279
152Rosso26,8201:2,280
153Volpe26,7231:2,289
154Trevisan26,6661:2,293
155D'Alessandro26,5441:2,304
156Antonelli26,5071:2,307
157Ferro26,4441:2,313
158Maggi26,4211:2,315
159Orlandi26,4081:2,316
160Napolitano26,4071:2,316
161Guidi26,3931:2,317
162Cirillo26,2571:2,329
163Pastore26,2321:2,331
164Corti26,0811:2,345
165Pepe26,0531:2,347
166Rosa25,9611:2,356
167Ferrante25,7981:2,371
168Tosi25,7221:2,378
169Berti25,7021:2,379
170Costanzo25,6281:2,386
171Baldi25,4771:2,400
172Valenti25,2841:2,419
173Angelini25,1571:2,431
174de Marco25,0641:2,440
175Viola25,0061:2,446
176Nardi24,9691:2,449
177Arena24,9271:2,453
178Mancuso24,8981:2,456
179Leoni24,8851:2,458
180Sacco24,8371:2,462
181Grossi24,8331:2,463
182Pugliese24,7261:2,473
183Landi24,7001:2,476
184Grillo24,6611:2,480
185Agostini24,6571:2,480
186Piccolo24,5431:2,492
187Venturi24,4531:2,501
188Marchese24,4211:2,504
189Ceccarelli24,4131:2,505
190Mosca24,3381:2,513
191Stella24,3241:2,514
192Giannini24,3141:2,515
193Bartolini24,0841:2,539
194di Marco24,0371:2,544
195Gori23,9821:2,550
196Serafini23,9421:2,554
197Bernardini23,8681:2,562
198Spina23,7901:2,571
199Mauro23,7281:2,577
200Venturini23,7141:2,579