Italian middle names

[nfig1]

I'm curious whether Italians have the custom of giving a middle name or not. (My hunch is they do not.) If so, was this always the case?

[aliza24]

Middle names are very common. Of course, things will vary in different areas and in different time periods though- according to what was in fashion at the time.

Having 2 first names is also very common- sometimes run together like GiovanGiuseppe and sometimes separate like Giovanni Giuseppe.

You have to be careful with this while researching! Because often times the person was given a double name but just went by one. (Many times it was the second) So you may know a relative as Giuseppe (Joseph) but his first name may actually be Giovanni (John), get it?

HTH

Aliza

[Italysearcher]

In my research I have come across multiple baptismal names especially in the 1700's. Often only one of these was used officially by the town office.

[nazca]

Hi,
second and third name are common in Italy but, often , this "additional" names are present only in birth certificate and never used during our life to introduce ourselves. I discover the second or third name of my friends only when they married or when i see their birth certificate...
The second name have various reason. This one is the evolution of an ancient tradition. this is what i found on wikipedia:

"By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts (tria nomina): praenomen (given name), nomen (or nomen gentile or simply gentilicium, being the name of the gens or clan) and cognomen (name of a family line within the gens). Sometimes a second or third cognomen, called agnomen, was added. The nomen, and later, cognomen were virtually always hereditary. This system was derived from the Etruscan civilization.

Females were officially known by the feminine form of their father's nomen gentile, followed by the genitive case of their father's cognomen (husband's if married), and an indication of order among sisters. By the late Roman Republic, women sometimes also adopted the feminine of their father's cognomen. Women usually did not have the praenomen and agnomen, unless the parents chose to give her these."