Years ago I had read that Italian families name their first born son after one of his grandfathers. In our family, in my generation, I can only think of two girls that were named after one of their grandparents. In the younger generations I see numerous examples of children (not always the first-born) named after grandparents.
My parents did not follow this practice. If they had then I would be named Cherubino Sgriccia or Only A. Sgriccia. No – Only is not pronounced On-Lee. Only is only pronounced one way. Either name would have been ample ammunition for school yard pranks. My Army Basic Training drill sergeant would have endless remarks about either name, too.
If a father calls his first born son after the child’s grandfather – let’s say Domenico – and the father’s brother calls his first born son after the same grandfather then we have two boys (cousins) named Domenico. Could be confusing at times – especially 125 years later. Our family has lots of duplicate names: Tom, Joe, Mike, Mark and plenty of variations on Mary or Maria.
Back to the cousins named Domenico. They are real people and share the following.
- Last name: Bonarrigo
- Birth date: Jan 27, 1893 and Jan 21, 1894
- Born in tiny village of Gualtieri Sicamino in Sicily
- Both emigrated to the USA
- Both lived in Pennsylvania as coal miners
This is what drives amateur genealogists to drink – or at least to stay up way too late reading and re-reading documents trying to distinguish which documents belongs to which person.
So I ask my Detroit cousins: which coal company did your grandfather work for? The Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Co. or the Russell Coal Co.? Did your grandfather become a shoemaker by 1929? Did your grandfather have siblings? If yes, please name them.
Sgriccia 