Surnames of Torricella

According to the statistical website Italia.Indettaglio.It, as of 2016 the population of Torricella Peligna numbered 1,353, with the following being the most common surnames:

1. Teti = 83
2. Ficca = 76
3. Di Marino = 69
4. Piccone = 56
5. D’Ulisse = 47

Many emigrant families report that somewhere along the way their original surname was changed. Many blame inspectors at Ellis Island or some other port of entry.  According to the article “They Changed Our Name at Ellis Island”, you can be fairly sure an ancestor was responsible for a surname modification, not an inspector.  Consult the article for a discussion of why and how surnames were changed.

Visit ItalyHeritage.com for a list of surnames recorded in Torricella Peligna in the mid-1990s.  

Surnames in 1447

1447 – Number of Families

In March 1443 King of Naples Alfonso I of Aragona ordered a tax reform, based on a per head tribute called “focatico” that required a census of all the families with their members. The only books left of that census seem to be one for the Valle di Sangro and another for Calabria Ulteriore. The book of the Valle di Sangro, over 600 pages, was extensively studied by Nunzio Federico Faraglia in the late 1800, and an essay, “Numerazione dei Fuochi della Valle del Sangro” (copy in the Provincial Library of Chieti), was published in 1898; below surnames have been transcribed from the 1898 essay and ordered alphabetically.

The villages and towns belonging to the Provinces of Chieti, Aquila and Isernia, included in the study were: Alfedena, Altino, Archi, Atessa, Barrea , Baselice, Bisegna, Bomba , Campo di Giove , Cansano, Carpineto Sinello, Casalanguida, Casalbordino, Casoli , Castel di Sangro, Castro Valva, Civita Luparella, Civitella Alfedena, Civitella (Messer Raimundi), Colle di Macine, dei Peligni, Dogliola , Fallascoso, Fara San Martino, Forli del Sannio, Fossacesia, Frattura, Fresa, Furci, Gamberale, Gessopalena, Gissi, Guilmi, Lama, Lanciano, Lentella, Lettopalena, Liscia, Montenerodomo, Montenero Valcocchiara, Monteodorisio, Opi, Pacentro, Paglieta, Palena, Palmoli, Palombara, Pennapiedimonte, Pescasseroli, Pettorano, Pizzoferrato, Policornum, Pollutri, Quadri, Rocca San Giovanni, Roccapia, Roccaraso, Roccascalegna, San Buono, Scanno, Scerni, Taranta Peligna, Torino di Sangro, Tornareccio, Torricella Peligna, Tripalle, Tufillo, Villalago, Villetta Barrea.