Surname Listro (Liistro)

[Sicilianmandolin]

Hi everyone,

I ran a search on my last name, "Listro". I emailed the only submitter listed to never receive a reply. I believe this person's account to be inactive.

I recently discovered my surname's original spelling to be Liistro, though we are not sure of when the change occured.

My paternal grandfather immigrated from Sicily. My father claims we have roots from Palermo and several other places in Sicily and Italy.

Anyone who may have more information please reply...

Thanks!

[Essgee]

Go to http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/EIDB/ellis.html

Place the name Listro in the search engine with intial of first name-- if you know it-- of your immigrant ancestor. In the surname section, as for "many" and then do the search.

You will find a lot of names...but mostly Listro, Leistro, Lustro, Luistro....
see if you can locate the ancestor first coming into the country. It will lead to more info.

I do not think that Liistro is correct, but rather a misinterpretation of the written script of the time...often letters are misread because of how they were written back then.

The other option is to post your grandfather's first name, where in the US he lived, and we can try and track him in the census for you, which can lead to his passenger records and town of origin. In Italian records, you must know the town of origin to research.

Good Luck

[suanj]

Hi everyone,

I ran a search on my last name, "Listro". I emailed the only submitter listed to never receive a reply. I believe this person's account to be inactive.

I recently discovered my surname's original spelling to be Liistro, though we are not sure of when the change occured.

My paternal grandfather immigrated from Sicily. My father claims we have roots from Palermo and several other places in Sicily and Italy.

Anyone who may have more information please reply...

Thanks!

Hi Listro is an version of original Liistro...tipical of Sicily this surname Liistro, and also Listro, have small diffusion in other italian regions...
The main branche of this people is in Sicily:
-Liistro: in Siracusa province, nobody currently in Palermo area...

-Listro: 11 people living in Palermo http://www.paginebianche.it/pb/cerca?bt ... pa&x=0&y=0

regards, suanj

[Sicilianmandolin]

That is wonderful information! Thank you guys!

Any idea how/why the name changed? Anything to do with the immigration?

Thanks!

[mfjp]

The Listro's came through Boston Harbor as Listro...not one with the spelling L i i s t r o....

Carmela Listro 9 Apr 1921 Born ...1896 Female Naples, Italy   Canopic
Emmanuele Listro 9 Apr 1921 born...1898 Male Naples, Italy   Canopic
Giuseppe Listro 25 Mar 1914... 1885 Male Naples, Italy Sicily Palermo
Grazio Listro 14 Aug 1910... 1904 Male Palermo, Italy Siracusa Sannio
Maria Listro 9 Apr 1921 ...1916 Female Naples, Italy   Canopic
Michelino Listro 9 Apr 1921... 1918 Male Naples, Italy   Canopic
Salvatore Listro 28 Feb 1921... 1888 Male Naples, Italy Cosenza Princess Matoika
Sebastiana Listro 14 Aug 1910 ...1889 Female Palermo, Italy Siracusa Sannio

And about 31 passengers came through Ellis Island as L i i s t r o....

And about 34 passengers with the name L i s t r o

and there are probably a few mistranscribed surnames as well...

so both variations - same time frame...

mfjp

[dlistro1950]

Most of the Liistro's/Listro's in North America come from Canicattini Bagni, a small town in Sicily about 20 kilometers west of Siracusa. I have also noticed that some Listro's have come form Pachino.

In 1990 I had to be in Naples for a business and I spent about 5 days vacation in Sicily. I enjoyed it very much. Liistro/Liistro is quite common surname in Cannicatini Bagni. While there I made contact with a second cousin that used to live in the Hartford, Ct area. She had spent the first 30 years of her life in Hartford and then moved to Sicily after her father passed. She spoke unaccented English as I spoke no Italian, never mind Sicilian dialect.

We went to the Church and the Stato Civile, town records,. In the records from the mid 1600's there was a note that the name was not Liistro, but L'ustro with the German umlat over the "u". That would indicate that it's not "ii" - but a "u" with an umlatt (two dots over the "u"). She said that the name Lustro might mean from Austria. Interesting. Dick Listro

[Ishmael]

Hi,
My surname is Liistro, my Grandfather, Giuseppe Liistro emigrated from Solarino (30 minutes from Siracusa) to Melbourne Australia in the 40's. I have often wondered the origin of the name, before he passed away he told me that the name was Austrian in origin, who knows from when, perhaps during the German rule of Sicily. Reading the previous post backs up his belief. Hope this helps.

[Marcello_DAleo]

According to Caracausi (Onomastic Dictionary of Sicily), the last name Liistro, with all the other forms, derives from the medieval Greek ἀλύγιστος meaning "inflexible".