The Shemwell Family

DiGianvittorio and Cappabianca Surname Variations PREFACE Geneaology research will be presented to show that the DiGianvittorio surname has been “discontinued” for this particular family tree; instead, it has evolved into two separate family lines: (1) Vittor and (2) Jeavettorea. INTRODUCTION This discussion documents the DiGianvittorio and Cappabianca Italian surname variations once those families immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. I have documented the variations I have been able to find via record searches that were used to create the family tree. I am in the process of adding the name variations in the "Alternate Name" or "Also Known As" profile fields. As you will notice, the original Italian surnames morphed into shortened, anglicized versions with or without legal name changing document support. The family appeared to just start using the names and passing down those "new" names to their offspring. Coupled with this are some changes to the first/middle names; for example, "Giuseppe Pasquale Andrea" was shortened to a more American form - "Joseph", and my wife's mother name evolved from "Asunte" to "Susan". HISTORY Casto DiGianvittorio and Rosa Angela Pasqualina Cappabianca were married in Italy in 1904. While in Italy, they had three children: Donato Giuseppe Giovanni DiGianvittorio, Giuseppe Pasquale Andrea DiGianvittorio, and Caterina DiGianvittorio. Casto was the first family member to immigrate to the United States in 1910. Rosa, and the three children, immigrated in 1913 via Boston, Massachusetts. Casto and Rosa had four more children born after they came to the United States: an unnamed son who died shortly after birth, Anthony, Mary, and Asunte. VARIATION At the summary level, the surnames associated with (1) Casto DiGianvittorio were: DiGianvittorio, Jeavettorea, Vittor, Giannvittores, Gianvittoreo, Vittorio, Jeavettorca, Vittori, Vittoria and (2) Rosa Angela Pasqualina Cappabianca -> Cappabianca, Copabianca, Bianca, Biano, and White. The difficulty with the surname variations is that they are evolving for the same person depending which document record is studied. For example, Casto DiGianvittorio shows this name on his Italian marriage license and immigration ship voyage to the United States. His 1918 WWI Draft Card shows him as Casto Gianvittores which could be viewed as a slight spelling error. The major name change comes in the 1920 Census where he is known as "John Vittorio". I can see how this name could evolve if the Census worker took the last name as two separate names: "Gian" for the first name and "Vittorio" for the surname. Noting that "Gian" sounds a lot like "John", it is easy to see how the name "John Vittorio" was created. In his later years, his surname settled to "Vittor" with a few documents showing a "Vittorio". The 1942 Social Security Death Index lists his name as "Casto Jeavettorea" with the surname appearing to be the phonetic spelling of "Gianvittorio". Other family members go through similar name variations as per their attached records. DILEMMA The question is "What is the person's name that should be used in the family tree?". Ideally, unless I could find a legal document (i.e., name change or birth certificate) showing a change, I would tend to use "Gianvittorio" and "Cappabianca" for the names ... at least for the parents and their children. Beyond that, the married daughters will have a new surname to track. But, the sons are the problem. Is the "Gianvittorio" name passed down from the early 1900s to today? The answer is probably "no". I think by common practice the subsequent generations just started using the name variation as that was informally passed down to them. For example, Giuseppe Pasquale Andrea DiGianvittorio. After he immigrated to the US with his mother, his name quickly changed to "Joseph Vittor". All of his post birth and immigration records shown that anglicized name; i.e. Marriage Licenses, Census data, family photos, and burial data. Moreover, his six children use the surname "Vittor". This is an example of Joseph's surname being shown as DiGianvittorio as the birth certificate; but, letting his children use the "Vittor" as that was the surname their father was using when they were born. A less drastic surname variation can be found for Anthony A DiGianvittorio where his US surname as a child matched Casto's as "Vittor". As he grew up and had his own document records, his name became "Jeavettorea" which as noted earlier is the phonetic spelling "DiGianvittorio". His Marriage Engagement and Obituary also refer to him as "Jeavettorea". While we do not have a picture of his Tombstone, his name at the Findagrave site is listed as "Anthony A Jeavettoria". Anthony had one child, Rosemarie J, whose surname was "Jeavettorea". SUPPORTING DATA Based on the records we have found so far, the following name variations can be documented. Note that in some of the records, the children’s records had various Paternal and Maternal surnames listed. The name variation list to date is: Casto DiGianvittorio -> Casto Gianvittores, Casto Gianvittoreo, John Vittorio, John Jeavettorca, John Casto Vittorio, Casto J Jeavettorea, John Vittor, John Vittoria, John Jeavettorea, John Vittori First/Middle Name -> Casto, John, John Casto, Casto J Paternal Surnames -> DiGianvittorio Maternal Surnames -> Penielo Rosa Angela Pasqualina Cappabianca -> Rose Bianca, Rose Jeavettorca, Rose Vittor, Rose Jeavettorea, Rose Biano Jeavettorea, Rose Copabianca, Rosa DiGianvittorio, Rosa Cappabianca, Rose Vittori, Rose Vittoria, Rosa Cappabianca DiGianvittorio, Rosa Jeavettorea First/Middle Name -> Rosa Angela Pasqualina, Rosa, Rose Paternal Surnames -> Cappabianca, Copabianca, Bianca, Biano, White Maternal Surnames -> Izzo Donato Giuseppe Giovanni DiGianvittorio -> Donato DiGianvittorio, Donato Cappabianca, Donato Cappabianca DiGianvittorio First/Middle Names -> Donato Giuseppe Giovanni, Donato Paternal Surnames -> DiGianvittorio Maternal Surnames -> Cappabianca Giuseppe Pasquale Andrea DiGianvittorio -> Joseph Jeavettorea, Joseph Vittor, Giuseppe DiGianvittorio, Giuseppe Cappabianca, Giuseppe Cappabianca DiGianvittorio First/Middle Names -> Giuseppe Pasquale Andrea, Giuseppe, Joseph Paternal Surnames -> DiGianvittorio, Jeavettorea, Vittor, Cappabianca Maternal Surnames -> Cappabianca, Copabianca Caterina DiGianvittorio -> Caterina Cappabianca, Katherine Dec, Caterina Cappabianca DiGianvittorio First/Middle Names -> Caterina, Katherine Paternal Surnames -> DiGianvittorio Maternal Surnames -> Cappabianca Anthony A DiGianvittorio -> Anthony Jeavettorea, Anthony Vittor, Anthony A Jeavettorea, First/Middle Names -> Anthony A, Anthony Paternal Surnames -> Jeavettorea, Vittor Maternal Surnames -> N/A Mary Margaret DiGianvittorio -> Mary Vittor, Mary Panella, Mary M Panella, Mary Jeavettorea, Mary Margaret Jeavettorea First/Middle Names-> Mary Margaret, Mary M, Mary Paternal Surnames -> Jeavettorea, Vittor Maternal Surnames -> White Asunte DiGianvittorio -> Susan Ann Jeavettorea, Susan Vittor, Susan Ann Foster, Susan Foster First/Middle Names-> Asunte, Susan Ann, Susan Paternal Surnames-> Jeavettorea, Vittor Maternal Surnames-> Bianca, Blanca