Show ContentsCrovo History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

From the historical and enchanting Italian region of Tuscany emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Crovo 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 Crovo is a name for a person who was raven-haired or dark-complexioned. The surname Corvi is derived from the Italian word corvo, which comes from the Latin corvus, which means raven or crow. Furthermore, this nickname surname was often used to describe priests, probably because they dressed in black.

Early Origins of the Crovo family

The surname Crovo was first found in Lucca, a city and comune in Tuscany, capital of the province of Lucca and where Bascilican type churches abound. Records can be traced back to the 10th century with a Conte Fraolmo Corvaia who owned much land in the Val di Lima. It was at this time that Tuscany was taken over by the house of Boniface. Some of the earliest listings of the name include: Guglielmo Corvi, a professor of philosophy and logic at the University of Padua in 1250; Giovanni Corvini was an ecclesiastic and diplomat in Arezzo during the early 14th century.

Early History of the Crovo family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crovo research. The years 1615, 1636, 1638, 1681 and 1750 are included under the topic Early Crovo History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crovo 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 Crovo include Corvi, Corvo, Cuorvo, Corbi, Corbo, Corbu, Crovi, Crovo, Corvetto, Corvietto, Corvini, Corvino, Corvinelli, Corvascio, Corbelli, Corbello, Corbellini, Corbetti, Corbetto, Corbittu, Corbini, Corbino, Corbucci, Corboli, Corbascio, Corbari, Corbato, Corbatti, Corbatto, Crovetti, Crovetto, Crovari, Crovara and many more.

Early Notables of the Crovo family

Prominent among members of the family was Blasco Corvino was the first prince of the Sicilian town Mezzojuso in 1638, and was head of the legal courts as well as a priest in Palermo; members of the Corvo family in Sulmona were landowners of Cerviglione and much land in Abruzzo; Cardinal Marcello Cervini, who took the name of Marcellus II, being the last pope in the history who retained his baptismal name; and Maddalena Corvini, born in Rome...
Another 77 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Crovo Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Crovo migration to the United States +

In the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Crovo were found:

Crovo Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Maria Crovo, aged 17, who landed in America from Cicagua, Italy, in 1911
  • Guiseppe Crovo, aged 18, who immigrated to the United States from Genoa, Italy, in 1912
  • Caterina Crovo, aged 16, who immigrated to the United States from Cicagna, Italy, in 1913
  • Girolamo Crovo, aged 18, who settled in America from Cicagna, Italy, in 1913
  • Agostino Crovo, aged 22, who landed in America from Rapallo, Italy, in 1914
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Crovo (post 1700) +

  • Facundo Crovo (b. 1987), Argentine racing driver


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