Quaranta

Quaranta (forty in Italian). The Quaranta family is an ancient and noble Italian family, with its origin in Scandinavia, established at the end of the 11 century in the district of Salerno. This surname now has roots that spread all over the world. When researching the Quaranta name, several different variations of the name can be found. Language changes and carelessness contributed to this, as did high instances of illiteracy contributed to the numbers of ways a name may have been spelled and articulated. Many times a town clerk would spell names the way they sounded. Because of this, surname dictionaries list such spelling variations as Quarantelli, Quaranti, Quatanto, Quarantas, Quartarara, and Quartararo which all stem from the root surname Quaranta.

The first evidence of this family's existence in America is verified by the "Italians in America", which notes that Salvatore and Commaso Quaranta arrived in New York City on December 14th, 1880 aboard the "Italia", which sailed from Marseilles, Naples, and Palermo. There is a possibility, however, that the name Quaranta could have been introduced here at an earlier date.

History

The Founder of the Quaranta family was a medieval Norman knight who returned from the Crusades in the 11th century during the government of Guaiumarius IV. He led forty pilgrims from the Holy Land and dislodged the Saracens (Muslims) from the sieged city Salerno. Therefore he was nicknamed “dei Quaranta” (of the forty). For such merit Knight Quaranta was rewarded with an immense property between Salerno and Cava de'Tirreni, where the family settled and where the family established the Church of the SS Quaranta Martiri (the holy Forty Martyrs), what made the family the most prestigious family in the region. On their property, in the Norman era, the tremendous Quaranta palace was built.

With the arrival of the Angioina dynasty several members of the family moved to Naples where they became eminent members of The Neapolitan parliament, as representatives of the city districts (seggi) Forcella and Porto (port). The family prospered in the following centuries and spread out to parts of Italy such as Rome, Bari, Quarry, Salerno, Naples and Gaeta.

Famous people with the surname Quaranta

*Robert Quaranta - Founder of Global-Law.com ®
*Alessandro Quaranta - Founder of the international Rubinetteria Quaranta company in 1971
*Bob Quaranta - musician, composer, musical director
*Christina Quaranta - Italian model, actress
*Frank Quaranta - AutoCAD designer
*Gianni Quaranta - Italian production designer
*Ivan Quaranta - International cyclist
*Jody Quaranta - American actress
*Letizia Quaranta - Italian actress
*Lidia Quaranta - Italian actress
*Raphaël Quaranta - Belgian R.F.C. de Liège soccer manager
*Santino Quaranta - American soccer player
*Silvio Quaranta - cofounder of St. Josephs College in Victoria, Australia

Bibliography

Primary Sources

* [http://www.sardimpex.com/ Genealogies of Italian noble families]
* [http://quaranta.homestead.com/ Personalized Quaranta family host site]

Extras

* [http://www.quaranta.nl/ Prominent members of the Quaranta family]
* [http://fribourg.com.ar/genealogy/de%20Muller/complements/94/094.complements.html In depth look at important Quaranta family members]