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| Origins Available: |
| | Italy |
From the historical and enchanting Italian region of Tuscany emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Fortunati family. During the Middle Ages, as populations grew and travel between regions became more frequent, the people of Tuscany found it necessary to adopt a second name to identify themselves and their families. 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 Tuscany 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 Fortunati is a name for a person of happy nature, good fortune and favorable destiny. This surname is derived from the Latin personal name Fortunatus, which means happy, chance, or luck. The Latin name was fashionable among early Christians, chosen to illustrate their joy in the faith. It was borne by a large number of early saints, which further increased its popularity as a given name in the Middle Ages.
The surname Fortunati was first found in the town of Volterra where Gianfranco Fortunio was a humanist and grammarian. He is famous for his work on Italian grammar and many of his theories and methods are used today by grammarians.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fortunati research. The year 1746 is included under the topic Early Fortunati History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Fortunati include Fortuna, Fortuni, Infortuna, Fortunio, Fortugno, Fortunato, Fortunati and many more.
Prominent among members of the family was
In the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Fortunati J. Fortune, who settled in San Francisco in 1852; M Fortuna, aged 23, landed in New Orleans, La in 1831; Peter Fortuna, who arrived in Savanna(h), Ga in 1856.