Candia History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

From the historical and enchanting Italian region of the islands of Sicily emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Candia family. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent. The process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames was not complete until the modern era, but the use of hereditary family names in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries. Italian hereditary surnames were developed according to fairly general principles and they were characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. Although the most common type of family name found in Sicily is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, the nickname type of surname is also frequently found. Nickname surnames were derived from an eke-name, or added name. They usually reflected the physical characteristics or attributes of the first person that used the name. The surname Candia is a name for a person who derives their name from the word Candido, which means candid, white, innocent.

Early Origins of the Candia family

The surname Candia was first found in Naples, (Italian: Napoli, Latin: Neapolis) where the Candelori family of Naples, was one of the more ancient families of the city. The House of Candia was a noble family from Savoy in the 1300s.

Candia Spelling Variations

Surnames that originated in Italy are characterized by an enormous number of spelling variations. Some of these are derived from regional traditions and dialects. Northern names, for instance, often end in "o", while southern names tend to end in "i". Other variations come from the fact the medieval scribes tended to spell according to the sound of words, rather than any particular set of rules. The recorded variations of Candia include Candelori, Candilori, Candelora, Candilora, Candelsi, Candelaria, Candi, Candia, Candiani, Candiano, Candida, Candidi, Candido and many more.

Early Notables of the Candia family

Prominent among bearers of this surname in early times was

Milo Candiani was bishop of Turrino and archbishop of Milan and Pavia
Bernardo Candiani was bishop of Asti and Como, and then of Pavia in 1443
Agrimonte Candiani was a knight of Malta around 1650

Candia migration to the United States +

Investigation of immigration and passenger lists has revealed a number of people bearing the name Candia:

Candia Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Cornelius Candia, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 1
Bryan Candia, who landed in Virginia in 1654 1

Candia Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Agueda Candia, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1816 1

Candia Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Francesco Candia, aged 24, originally from Trapani, Sicily, arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Madonna" from Palermo, Italy 2
Vito Candia, aged 36, originally from Havana, Cuba, arrived in New York, N.Y. in 1919 aboard the ship "Esperanza" from Havana, Cuba 2
Andres Candia, aged 42, arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Brazos" from San Juan, Puerto Rico 2
Nikla Candia, aged 20, originally from Athens, Greece, arrived in New York in 1921 aboard the ship "King Alexander" from Piraeus 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Candia (post 1700) +

Giovanni Matteo "Mario" De Candia (1810-1883), Italian opera singer, the most celebrated tenor of his era
José Pedro Montero De Candia (1878-1927), President of Paraguay from 1919 to 1920
Cecilia Maria de Candia (b. 1853), birth name of Mrs Godfrey Pearse, a British-born, Italian writer
Alfredo Ovando Candía (1918-1982), Bolivian president and dictator, 56th, 57th and 60th President of Bolivia
Candia McWilliam (b. 1955), Scottish author

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Ellis Island Search retrieved 15th November 2022. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result