Gentile History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Early Origins of the Gentile family
The surname Gentile was first found in Calabria and Sicily. Ancient Calabria was in Lecce. Modern Calabria is in the southern extremity of Italy coasting the straits of Messina. The base of the name Gentile, was derived from an original nickname or appellation consists of gentle, and "noble and courteous in the way we feel and behave."
Early History of the Gentile family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gentile research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1441, 1484, 1486, 1489, 1492, 1503, 1507, 1528, 1563, 1590, 1642, 1647, 1649 and 1654 are included under the topic Early Gentile History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Gentile Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Gentile, Gentili, Gentil, Gentilucci, Gentileschi, Gentilini and many more.
Early Notables of the Gentile family
By the end of the 15th century, southern Italy was known as the Kingdom of Naples, ruled by the house of Aragon. By the early eighteenth century, the Austrians had gained much of the region, under the rule of the Austrian emperor Kales VI. However, in 1734, Spaniard Don Carlos defeated the Austrians, and the region came under Spanish rule once more. In 1799, the French invaded Naples and in 1806, Napoleon's brother Joseph was made king, but this hold on Italy was not to last. In 1813 the Congress Of Vienna restored pre-Napoleonic rule. Among prominent bearers of this surname in early times were:
- Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1647), was a painter, born at Pisa in 1563, half-brother of the painter Aurelio Lomi, according to some accounts by a second marriage of their mother; but the account generall...
- Artemisia Gentileschi (1590-1642?), was a painter, born at Rome in 1590, and was daughter of Orazio Gentileschi from whom she received her first instructions in painting. 1
- Giovanni Gentile (died after 1649), was an Italian composer and music teacher
Gentile Ranking
In the United States, the name Gentile is the 2,902nd most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 2
Gentile migration to the United States +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Gentile Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Marido Gentile, aged 29, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1848 3
- Nicodemo Gentile, who arrived in America in 1889
- Agostino Gentile, aged 4, who landed in America, in 1896
- Michele Gentile, who settled in New York, NY in 1899
Gentile Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
- Agostino Gentile, aged 19, who immigrated to America from Campobello, Sicily, in 1910
- Amillo Gentile, aged 16, who landed in America from Ageroli, Italy, in 1910
- Angela Gentile, aged 18, who settled in America from Gagliano, Sicily, in 1910
- Alfio Gentile, aged 18, who landed in America from S. Fratello, Sicily, in 1912
- Achille Gentile, aged 19, who immigrated to the United States from Campotant, Italy, in 1912
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Contemporary Notables of the name Gentile (post 1700) +
- James Edward Gentile (b. 1934), American former Major League Baseball first baseman
- Major Dominic "Don" Salvatore Gentile (1920-1951), American World War II fighter ace credited with over 26 victories
- Dominic S. Gentile, American fighter pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force then the U.S. Army Air Forces, during World War II, credited with 21.83 aerial victories
- Claudio Gentile (b. 1953), Italian football coach and former defender who appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments
- Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944), Italian philosopher
- Edera Gentile (1920-1993), Italian Olympic athlete in the Discus
- Vincent Jacques-Etienne Avogari de Gentile, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 4
- Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1427), Italian painter
Citations +
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- 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)
- Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 11) Vincent Gentile. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html