Amendolia History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

From the ancient and picturesque Italian region of Venice emerged a variety of distinguished names, including the notable surname Amendolia. 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 are characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. Although the most traditional type of family name found in the region of Venice is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, local surnames are also found. Local names, which are the least frequent of the major types of surnames found in Italy, are derived from a place-name where the original bearer once resided or held land. Often Italian local surnames bore the prefix "di," which signifies emigration from one place to another, but does not necessarily denote nobility. The Amendolia family lived near an almond tree or grove. The surname Amendola is derived from the Latin amandula, which is in turn derived from the Greek amygdale, which means almond.

Early Origins of the Amendolia family

The surname Amendolia was first found in Northern Italy. The name was also found early on in the South, Sagramoro Mendozi moved his family from Milan to Rimini around this time, and was made Bishop of Piacenza in 1475. Two months later he was made Bishop of Parma. Cristoforo Mendozi was treasurer of the Milanese court in 1465, and his brother Giovanni Mendozi held the same position in Genoa. Filippo Mendozi, nephew of Sagramoro, was the orator for the Duke of Milan, and in 1475 he became priest of Sant'Archangelo.

Early History of the Amendolia family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Amendolia research. Another 37 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1367, 1404 and 1848 are included under the topic Early Amendolia History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Amendolia Spelling Variations

There are many variations of most of those Italian names that originated in the medieval era. Some of these come from regional differences, like the tradition of ending northern names in "o" and southern names in "i". Others come from inaccuracies in the recording process, which were extremely common in the eras before dictionaries standardized spelling. Some of the spelling variations of Amendolia are Amendola, Amendolara, Amendolea, Amendolia, Ammendola, LaMendola, Lammendola, Mendola, Mendolaro, Mendolia, Mendoza, Mendozza and many more.

Early Notables of the Amendolia family

Prominent among bearers of this family in early times was Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1367-1404), Admiral of Castile and tenth head of the House of Mendoza; and Giovanni...
Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Amendolia Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Amendolia family

Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Amendolia, or a variant listed above: Luige Mendola, who was naturalized in Mobile Co., AL in 1868; Aaron Mendoza, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1871; and Gaetano Amendola, who was on record in California in 1889..

Contemporary Notables of the name Amendolia (post 1700) +

Don Amendolia (b. 1945), American actor, best known for his recurring role as Big Al Kennedy in NBC's soap opera Sunset Beach