L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r r e a d e r s , A m e r i c a n i z - i n g I t a l i a n n a m e s i s m y focus for the month of May because of Mother's Day, May 12th this year. After the baby is born, and sometimes long before, picking out a name for the little newcomer is o f t e n o n e o f t h e f i r s t parental decisions. In years g o n e b y , i t w a s e a s y : t h e first bambina or bambino was named after the pater- nal grandparents, the sec- ond after the maternal side. For example, my two girls were named Angelina and Caterina, the oldest being named after her paternal nonna. *** As to the original source of names, back in the old country, it was the saint's calendar, where every day was dedicated to a specific saint. So in May, for exam- ple, a bambina born on the 24th might be named Gio- vanna, the female form of John. A bambino born May 26th, Filippo. In August, y o u c o u l d h a v e b a m b i n i n a m e d L o r e n z o ( S t . L a w r e n c e D a y , A u g u s t 1 0 t h ) , A s s u n t a , o r M a r i a (Assumption of the Virgin Mary, August 15th). *** A m e r i c a n i z a t i o n o r changing of Italian names into American equivalents was done at Ellis Island or o t h e r p o r t s o f e n t r y b u t much of it happened also in schools or workplaces. Ital- ians were normally named a f t e r s a i n t s o r r e l i g i o u s e v e n t s s u c h a s E a s t e r ( P a s q u a l e ) , C h r i s t m a s ( N a t a l e ) , A n n u n z i a t a (Annunciation) Epiphany ( E p i f a n i o ) , o r R o s a r y (Rosario). It was common to have both feminine ver- sions and masculine ver- sions of a name normally noted by "O" for masculine and "A" for feminine. Many n a m e s h a d n o E n g l i s h counterpart, so more Amer- ican-sounding names were c h o s e n . O f t e n t h e n a m e s had little or nothing to do with the original: My father Vincenzo became Jimmy in New York, and his paesano P a s q u a l e b e c a m e P a t s y . S o m e o f t h e t r a n s l a t i o n s that became common were Rosario for Ross, or Sal for S a l v a t o r e , w h i l e B i a g i o became Ben. *** There are many different factors involved in choosing the name of a baby. Some go with tradition, selecting the names of family mem- bers, while at the opposite end of the spectrum are the names of famous personali- t i e s c h o s e n f o r t h e l i t t l e b u n d l e o f j o y . I f y o u a r e curious about the most pop- u l a r n a m e s f o r b a b i e s i n Italy, you do not need to fly over to do the research. The Italian National Insti- tute of Statistics, Italy's v e r s i o n o f t h e C e n s u s Bureau, keeps track not only of all of the babies born in the country but also their n a m e s . I n 2 0 2 3 , t h e 2 0 m o s t p o p u l a r n a m e s f o r girls were: Chiara, Aurora, B e a t r i c e , G i u l i a , S o f i a , G i n e v r a , G i o r g i a , A l i c e , Aria, Bianca, Lucia, Marti- na, Alessia, Anna, Emilia, Matilde, Vittoria, Ludovica, Luna, and Sienna. For baby boys, the top 20 names last year were: Leonardo, Loren- z o , M a t t e o , A l e s s a n d r o , Antonio, Francesco, Riccar- d o , A n d r e a , E d o a r d o , Gabriele, Luca, Marco, Mat- t i a , T o m m a s o , N i c c o l ò , Enzo, Giovanni, Giuseppe, Alessio and Federico. *** Baby names' popularity often changes due to events, like the altruism on the part of Maggie and Reg Green, which continues to benefit young people throughout Italy. Their story and chari- table deed should never be forgotten. As you may recall, Americans Reg Green and h i s w i f e M a g g i e h e l d n o grudge against the people of Italy for the tragic loss of Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. their son Nicholas (7), and even gave the second-grad- er's organs to seven Italians w h o s e l i v e s w e r e t r a n s - formed. Now, a monument to Nicholas stands in his hometown, Bodega Bay, in California, adorned by bells given by the people of Italy, i n c l u d i n g o n e t h a t w a s blessed by the Pope. When Nicholas died, he lit a spark of love in mil- l i o n s o f h e a r t s , a n d t h a t love still lives. The astonish- ing saga began on Septem- ber 29, 1994, when Reg, his wife Maggie, then 35, their daughter Eleanor, then five, and Nicholas were vacation- ing in southern Italy. Reg w a s b e h i n d t h e w h e e l o f their car when two masked m e n p u l l e d u p a l o n g s i d e h i m o n a h i g h w a y a n d ordered him to pull over. Fearing for his family, Reg tried to race away, but the men fired and blasted out several windows in Reg's car. It wasn't until Reg sped t e n m i l e s d o w n t h e r o a d and saw a police car that he s t o p p e d a n d l e a r n e d t h e h e a r t b r e a k i n g t r u t h : Nicholas had been shot in the head in the back seat. He lay in a coma for two days before dying. Reg and M a g g i e w e r e d e v a s t a t e d , but they immediately decid- e d t o d o n a t e t h e b o y ' s organs for transplant. " N i c h o l a s h a d l o s t h i s future. It seemed important to us that he could be given to others," said Reg. Reg and Maggie had a cheerful meeting with all the recipi- ents and their families.

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