Trying to go further back with surnames Riccia, Tallone, and Chiacchio from Naples (?)

[darthsmozers]

An abandoned child was given its first and last name (nome e cognome) by the official.

Tallone would be Francesco's given surname.

Tammaro Pezone and his wife, Concetta Cristiano, were the couple who raised him.
FYI - Italian women kept their maiden name.

I believe that Francesco was not adopted, but rather put in the care of this couple.

T.

This is so interesting. So, to clarify - would his name have been given by an official (made up?), or do you mean the name was also his birth name? I'm just wondering how an official would have come up with a surname unless it is the name the child was born with... Or, will we never know?

[Tessa78]

Abandoned children were named by the official. The name was made up by him. Usually a "fantasy" name, one that would NOT have been found in the town. In some places the surnames Esposito, Trovato, Proietti (all meaning exposed or abandoned) were given to a child.

Abandoned children could sometimes be given to a wetnurse to be cared for and raised. That COULD be the case here. We would have to find Francesco's birth act to know.

There were some infants who were abandoned, but the parent(s) left items (a ribbon, half a religious card, a note, blanket, etc.) to help identify the child as theirs when/if they should return to claim him/her. All these items would be written into the birth act.

I have searched for Francesco's birth act, but have not found it. By all estimates he was born about 1841-3.

Unfortunately, even if we were to find his birth act, it would not give any indication of who his parents were.

You may be interested in this article...
https://www.italiangenealogy.com/articl ... e-marriage


FYI - I had added the birth of another son, Gaetano, in my last post.

T.