Yet another example of an alcunha becoming family name. My misspelled last name Geniella should be janela, the Portuguese word for window. Dates to a time when the Pires, the real family name, supposedly had the first glass window house in the village of Beira above Velas on the island of Sao Jorge. Good news is the Pires family members are still there, so is the old "janela" house, and a few older family members still know the Janela story. I'm a very lucky descendant....
On Oct 15, 11:01 am, "Joao S. Lopes" <[email protected]> wrote: > Yes, there are many examples of such attached adjectives, even in Brazil. For > example, a family Mariante from a mariante "sailorman", and it's almost rule > in Portuguese immigrants in Brazil the use of birthplace attached to the > surname, to identify many homonymous people. There's a lot of Manuel > Fernandes: so, one became Manuel Fernandes Lisboa, other Manuel Fernandes > Braga, and another Manuel Fernandes Porto, from their cities. Not necessarily > from the city: Braga could be adopted by people from small towns around City > of Braga. Some Azorean could adopt "Ilha" as surname. > > Joao S. Lopes > > ________________________________ > De: Denis Meals <[email protected]> > Para: [email protected] > Enviadas: Sexta-feira, 14 de Outubro de 2011 16:18 > Assunto: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] First, middle names for Azorean people > > I would like to thank all who responded to my initial posting. You confirmed > what I suspected to be so; the Portuguese naming system of attaching > adjectives (occupations, nicknames) to their given names was their way of > uniquely identifying individuals. You also confirmed that this practice > occurred throughout the Azores. > > Just as it identified our ancestors while they were living, so too can it > help us as genealogists to sort through the many same-named individuals that > we encounter in our research. I think we all gained from the information > shared in this thread. > Denis > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 1:58 PM, "E" Sharp <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 9:49 AM, Diane Lavely <[email protected]> wrote: > > >How do we ever find anything?? Diane > > > >You tell me.....still after 10 years trying to find my ggrandmother's > >baptism record.....seems like they had kids all over those islands....and > >this was only from 1850 when they for some reason went to the Azores from > >mainland Portugal. > > > >I often wondered how a family member got his nickname..........from the > >priest who baptized him.......... > > "E" > > > > > > -- > >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >[email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions > >when they arrive. > >For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail > >(vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group > >athttp://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the > >right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my > >membership." > > -- > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when > they arrive. > For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail > (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right > that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
