Have you ever wondered if you have any Noble Italian Roots?

Chances are you do, especially if your family migrated from places like Naples, Rome, Milan, Venice or Florence.  Even if they came from smaller cities or towns, it is quite possible.  Before the unification of Italy in the mid 1900’s there where a lot of “noble” families.  I’m going to provide some insight on how to find out if you are, but remember that even if you find your name, it does not mean that you are directly related.  More often than not, peasants living on the land of a Prince, Duke or Count took a form of that name.  

If by chance, like I did, you have some sort of documentation from a grandmother or grandfather with a crest, that is the place to start.  Also, don’t discount a family story, my grandmother would tell my older cousins that her grandfather was a prince.  They never believed her.  It was true!

My journey began with this card.

 My grandmother brought a box of these from Italy when she came to the US in 1915.  This is her dad.  My dad always told us that his grandfather was a count of sorts.  Piromallo is not a very common name, so when I searched google I found this record.

Line 5C shows the marriage of Emilia Caracciolo di Torchiarolo to Count Nicola Piromallo.  I was pretty sure these were my great grandparents, but I never heard the name Caracciolo.  So I asked my older cousin that lived with my grandmother and she confirmed.  Also, first names matched.  My dad, the second son, was named after his maternal grandfather, my aunt the first daughter was named after her maternal grandmother.

From here it was pretty easy to trace back the Caracciolo family by using various links found on my links page.  Further confirmation was found by using the Antenati.  And other documents,  like the newspaper articles  below,

Another tip off may be the style of clothing, if you have any old photos.  You can see from the photos below that my grandmother is not wearing peasant clothing.  

Another sign of possible nobility is if you have ever heard of a distant ancestor being  a military officer.  For the most part only those well connected or noble were in the officer corps.  Good luck in your search.

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This link gives you the list of the Noble Families in Naples.

This link gives you the link for the Government of Naples pre unification.

This link gives you the Italian Titles of Nobility.

Link to Everything you need to know about Italian Nobility

The Libro d’Oro lists all the Italian Noble families.  Many of the records are up to date to the present, if the line continues.

A few of the many family crests associated with my great grandparents families

For more on my family research

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