Italian Inspired Necklace

Italian Naming Traditions

It may seem that our family lacked creativity when it came to naming their children. Anthony, Domenico, and Giovanni were a bit over used, but there was a method to their madness.

Our Italian family used the traditional naming method. The first born son is named for his paternal grandfather. The first born daughter is named for her paternal grandmother. The second son and daughter are named for the maternal grandparents.

If the first born son died at an early age and the parents gave birth to a son after his death, the new baby would be named after the paternal grandfather. A child was never named for his father unless the father died before the child's birth.

You might think that this will lead to major confusion when searching genealogy records. However, knowing a grandparent's name will give you an idea what names for which to look when you are searching for the grandchildren's name. It has helped me more than I ever thought it would.