Show ContentsBarbana History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The population of Italy increased dramatically in the 10th and 11th centuries, and people began to travel and meet others with the same names. This confusion caused problems in personal and legal matters, and many took on hereditary surnames as a solution. These new names often came from words that identified people by a physical characteristic or other obvious trait. Barbana was a nickname surname for a bearded person, derived from the words barba and bella, which together mean beautiful beard.

Early Origins of the Barbana family

The surname Barbana was first found in Milan (Italian: Milano, Milanese: Milan), the second-most populous city in Italy and the capital of Lombardy where the earliest records date back to 1145 with Filippo Barbo, a castle owner and leader of the town of Cremona.

Early History of the Barbana family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Barbana research. The years 1203, 1381, 1417, 1420, 1443, 1464, 1467, 1470, 1471, 1491, 1625, 1657, 1700, 1730 and 1773 are included under the topic Early Barbana History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Barbana Spelling Variations

Italian surnames come in far more variations than the names of most other nationalities. Regional traditions and dialects are a decisive factor in this characteristic. For example, northern names tend to end in "o", while southern in "i". Also important, but not unique to Italy, was the fact that before dictionaries and the printing press most scribes simply spelled words according to their sounds. The predictable result was an enormous number of spelling variations. The recorded spellings of Barbana include Barbi, Barbis, Della Barba, Barbella, Barbetta, Barbetti, Barbini, Barbin, Barbolini, Barbucci, Barbuzzi, Barboccia, Barbozza, Barbone, Barboni, Barbacci, Barbasio, Barbato, Barbuto, Barboso, Barbisio, Barbisini, Barbisan, De Barba, Del Barba, Barbano, Barbana, Barbani, Barban, Barbanelli, Barbanotti, Barbanti, Barbantini and many more.

Early Notables of the Barbana family

Prominent among bearers of this family in early times was the Barbani family of Venice, who were given noble status in the 12th century. The Barbi family in Venice gained noble status in 1203. The Barbazzi family of Messina moved to Bologna in the 14th century and Alessandro immediately became Count. Pietro Barbi was elected Pope in 1464 and given the name Paolo II. Marco Barbi was Cardinal in Venice in 1471. Luigi Barbi was Bishop of Treviso, Giuseppe was a count in Gubbio in the 15th century. Giovanni Giacomo Barba, born in Angri in the 16th century, dedicated his life...
Another 126 words (9 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Barbana Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Barbana migration to the United States +

Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Barbana were among those contributors:

Barbana Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Francisco Barbana, aged 31, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1851 1


  1. 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)


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