Ferrabosco History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Italy

Etymology of Ferrabosco

From the historical and enchanting Italian region of Tuscany emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Ferrabosco 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 Ferrabosco is a name for a person associated with the color gray having derived from the Old Italian word "ferrante" which means gray. This surname may also have been a habitational name taken on from Ferrante, a place name in Cosenza province.

Alternatively, the name could have been derived from the Latin word "ferrum," which means "iron," but as above, the name was most likely a nickname.

Early Origins of the Ferrabosco family

Early History of the Ferrabosco family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ferrabosco research. Another 172 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1424, 1458, 1494, 1507, 1513, 1525, 1542, 1544, 1557, 1563, 1580, 1599, 1605, 1609, 1614, 1615, 1618, 1621, 1630, 1652, 1662, 1664, 1667, 1671, 1678, 1682 and 1752 are included under the topic Early Ferrabosco History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ferrabosco Spelling Variations

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 Ferrabosco include Ferrante, Ferranti, Afferante, Ferrantello, Ferrantelli, Ferrantino, Ferrantini, Ferrantin and many more.

Early Notables of the Ferrabosco family

• Domenico Maria Ferrabosco, born in 1513, a composer and was choirmaster at the Basilica Vaticana in Rome. He was also a singer in the Papal choir. At the age of 30, he had a son, Alfonso, who became a...
• Alfonso Ferrabosco or Ferabosco, the Italian musician who settled in England in the middle of the 16th century with his father was ranked among the first of the Elizabethan era. He composed motets, ma...
• Alfonso Ferrabosco, the Younger, probably son of the preceding, born at Greenwich about 1580, was one of the extraordinary grooms of the privy chamber of James I, and the instructor in music of Prince...
• John Ferrabosco was organist of Ely Cathedral from 1662 to his death in 1682, was probably a son of Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger. He obtained his degree at Cambridge in 1671 'per literas regias.' Ei...

Migration of the Ferrabosco family

In the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Ferrabosco C. Ferranda, who arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1825 at the age of 35, Cesare Ferrante, who arrived in New York in 1893 aboard the steamship ".