Did you know you can tell a lot about an Italian Surnames origin by it's ending?  Or that generally speaking surnames in Southern regions of Italy end in vowels but as one moves North many surnames will end in consonants?  This can possibility be attributed to the fact that Northern Italy borders have changed several times over the centuries and belonged to other European countries so surnames were "grandfathered' in.

Some examples of such surnames and the regions they can found in are:

Anzil - Fruili-Venezia Giulia
Bionaz - Valle d'Aosta
Conchin - Friuli-Venezia Giulia,  Lombardy, Piemonte
De Pellegrin - Fruili-Venezia Giulia
De Sanctis -  Abruzzo, Lazio, Lombardy
Orbel - Piemonte
Perin - Veneto, Lombardy
Rigonat - Fruili-Venezia Giulia
Schiff -  Fruili-Venezia Giulia

Other  surname endings found in Northern regions include:

Suffix		Region		Example
- otti/utti		Fruili, Lombardy		Pascutti
- otti/utti		Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Trentino		Bortolotti
-aci/ecci/ucci		Tuscany		Ghelarducci
-ai		Lombardy, Tuscany		Mungai
-u, -as and -is		Sardinia		Piccinnu, Marras, Floris, Melis

**Sources**

1. Italian Surname Database - accessed 6 Jul 2013

2. Gens-Italia - accessed 6 Jul 2013

3. Webpages by  Stephen P. Morse , San Francisco - accessed 6 July 2013

4. Wikipedia  - accessed 6 Jul 2013
  

New names added to the Italian Surname Database 4 Nov 2012.

Surnames include:

Amato
Arpacci
Chitè
Ciscione
Clementi
Critelli
Cipparrone
Cumbo
Fantozzi
Fatheryar
Grupposo
Mandala
Mezzanares
Olivieri
Palermo
Rosini
Tombsiano
Quarttrucci
Zarola

Plus many, many more.  To add your surnames visit the Feedback page.  Submissions should look like this:

Surname
Town
Province
Region
Your Name
Your Email

No other information is needed.

Finally the Italian Surname Database is back up and running. You will notice a slightly different look and a anti spam feature on the feedback form.  Unfortunately during the upgrade there is a slight possibility that some of the data was lost or corrupted.  Please check the information for your surnames and contact info and send me any corrections so I can add information and make any necessary corrections.  Once again I ask that you please do not send any genealogy related questions through this form as it is only a feedback form and nothing more.  Direct all other questions to the Gente forum and we will gladly try to help you through there.
The format needed to submit names to the database is simply:

Sonsotta
Rovito
Cosenza
Calabria
Nuccia
nuccia@gmail.com

There is no need for headings, periods, capitalized letters (other than then first initial), bold letters, first names of ancestors, etc.  This will cut down on time and editing and allow me to update the site more frequently.

It's been a long month. Over a hundred surnames have been submitted for entry into the Italian Surname Database.  The most difficult part of updating the site is missing information and formatting the data.  I do this all manually since I chose not to use any flashy programs that might slow down the site.

If you would like to submit a surname you can help me by following the steps below.

First go to the Contact  link on the site. You will see a Submit form.  Enter your name. Some people choose to use their surname as the name but I believe it's more effective to use a first name but it's not necessary. 
Next provide a valid email address where a person can contact you.  Valid emails are required.
Next, provide your surname and the town, province and region in Italy your ancestor is from.  If you know the town but not the province or region a simple search using your favourite search engine will help and will also ensure you have spelled it correctly.  I spend approximately two hours a month looking this information and correcting spelling for submitters which delays my updating the site.  I also receive emails from people that say their ancestors were from somewhere around the Southern Region of Italy or around Naples.  I can not determine where your ancestors are from.
Once entered submit the info and you should receive a Thank You message letting you know I have received your request or an Error message if something has gone wrong. There is no need to send another email unless you notice I have updated the site since you sent your request and your surname has not been added.

Please do not use all lowercase or all uppercase letters in your submission.  If you do, then I will have to reformat the information all over again.

Your submission should look like this:

Angilletta
Ardore
Reggio Calabria
Calabria
Nuccia
youremail @ gmail.com

and NOT like this:

ANGILLETTA, Domenic,  ardore, from somewhere in the south of Italy.

There is no need to add anything else.  This database can not answer genealogy related questions and no one sees the additional information except for me.  If you do need help locating an ancestor then please join Gente di Mare Italian Genealogy Forum and we will do our best to assist you.  I also get several emails in Spanish and French.  The members on the forum are from all over the world and will be happy to answer those questions and you can post them in your language of choice.  I unfortunately can not.

Thanks and have a Happy Canada Day and a Happy Fourth of July!

I added about 50 new surnames to the database this morning including:

• Canvil
• Fazzolari
• Fida
• Ferroggiaro
• Grizzuti
• Grizzuto
• Guido
• Iannino
• Grimani
• La Grua
• Lamentia
• La Pilusa
• Larosa
• Luisi
• Luppino

You can search the Italian Surname Database  to make connections with others who are researching your family name. Includes surnames from Argentina, Reggio Calabria, Cosenza, Venuto, Sicily and many more.