Ferrarella History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsVenice, one of the oldest and most beautiful island regions of Italy, is the esteemed birthplace of numerous prominent families, including the family that bears the surname Ferrarella. 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 common type of family name found in Venice is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's givenname, names derived from occupations are also found. Occupational surnames, which are less common than other types of surnames in Italy, date back to the feudal era. However, under the Feudal System, occupational names did not become hereditary until the offices themselves became hereditary. It was only after an occupation was inherited by several generations in lineal descent that occupational names came to be applied to entire families, and so became a hereditary surname. The surname Ferrarella comes from the Latin word ferro which means iron. The family likely were blacksmiths. Early Origins of the Ferrarella familyThe surname Ferrarella was first found in Modena (Etruscan: Mutna; Latin: Mutina; Modenese: Mòdna), where records can be found in 1271 of the Ferrari family living there at the Villa Mugnano. Saint Vincent Ferrer, OP (1350-1419) was a Valencian Dominican friar and preacher, who gained acclaim as a missionary and a logician. He is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church and other churches of Catholic traditions. His feast day is April 5th. Early History of the Ferrarella familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ferrarella research. The years 1471, 1480, 1499, 1508, 1530, 1546, 1584, 1603, 1653, 1655, 1662, 1681, 1850 and 1865 are included under the topic Early Ferrarella History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Ferrarella Spelling VariationsThere 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 Ferrarella are Ferraro, Ferrari, Ferrario, Ferraris, Ferrai, Ferrero, Ferrarese, Ferreri, Ferrèri, Ferreli, Ferriero, Ferrieri, Ferrerio, Fevrero, Fevriero, Ferrer, Fer, Ferr, Fare, De Ferrari, Deferrari, Defferrari, De Ferraris, Ferrarello, Ferraretto, Ferrarini, Ferrarin, Ferrarotti, Ferrarone, Ferraron and many more. Early Notables of the Ferrarella familyProminent among members of the family was Giovanni Matteo Ferrari, a doctor in Grado and the court physician to Francesco Sforza; Bartolomeo Ferrari was an ecclesiastic in Milan who studied law before dedicating his life to the church in 1499; Gaudenzio Ferarri (1471-1546), an Italian painter; Antonio Ferrero (died 1508), an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal; Lodovico Ferrari was a famous mathematician in Bologna in 1530; Benedetto Ferrari of Reggio (1603-1681) was a composer and in 1653 to 1662 was maestro of the chapel to the Duke of Modena; Giovanni Baptista 1... Migration of the Ferrarella familyIn the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Ferrarella were found: Giovanni and John Ferrari, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1860; and Antonio Ferrari arrived in Philadelphia in 1871.
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