Bosi History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

From the ancient and picturesque Italian region of Lombardy emerged a variety of distinguished names, including the notable surname Bosi. 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 Lombardy 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 Bosi family lived in the city of Milan. The Bosi surname is derived from the Latin personal name "Bosius."

Early Origins of the Bosi family

The surname Bosi was first found in 1170, where Consabecco Bossi was part of the Commune of Milan.

Boso (d. 1181?), was the third English cardinal, "described by Cardella as Boso Breakspear, an Englishman by birth, the nephew of Pope Adrian IV, and a monk of the order of St. Benedict. He was a member of the monastery of St. Albans, but went to Rome to follow the fortunes of his uncle." 1

Early History of the Bosi family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bosi research. The years 1544, 1555, 1575, 1629, 1650, 1732, 1830, 1846, 1848, 1850, 1851 and 1852 are included under the topic Early Bosi History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bosi 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 Bosi include Bosio, Bsio, Bsia, Bso, Bosia, Boso, Bsi, Bosi, Busio, Buosio, Busi, Buosi, Bosich, Bosèlli, Bosèllo, Boselli, Bosello, Bosè, Bose, Bosetti, Bosètti, Bosini, Bosìn, Bosin, Bosinèlli, Bosinelli, Bostti, Bosotti, Bosni, Bosoni, Bosne, Bosone, Bosani, Bosèro, Bosero, Bossa, Bossi and many more.

Early Notables of the Bosi family

Prominent among bearers of this family in early times was

Iacopo Bosio, a Canavese author and poet born in the 15th century
Tomaso Bosio was a knight in Asti around this time
Giacomo Bosio was a knight in Chivasso around 1544
Tommaso Bosio was Bishop of Modena in 1555
Antonio Bosio (c.1575-1629) was an Italian scholar, the first systematic explorer of subterranean Rome, sometimes known as the "Columbus of the Catacombs"
Pietro Bosio was an architect and sculptor in Cremona in the 18th century. Prominent members of the Bosi lineage during the 19th century included Angelina Bosio, a famous actress in Turin around 1850

Bosi migration to the United States +

Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Bosi or a variant listed above:

Bosi Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Francisco Bosi, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1860 2

Bosi Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Ovidio Bosi, aged 27, originally from Sillano, Italy, who arrived in New York in 1920 aboard the ship "Adriatic" from Cherbourg, France 3
Sigismondo Bosi, aged 35, originally from Coreglia, Lucca, who arrived in New York in 1920 aboard the ship "F. Palasciano" from Genoa, Italy 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Bosi (post 1700) +

Stefano Bosi (b. 1954), former Italian table tennis player, current President of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU)
Maria Bosi Igorov (b. 1954), Romanian handball player at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Claude Bosi (b. 1972), French chef; he currently holds two Michelin stars at his restaurant Hibiscus in London
Alfredo Bosi (b. 1936), Brazilian historian, literary critic, and professor

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)
Ellis Island Search retrieved 15th November 2022. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result