This section is a work in progress and contains a little bit of background on the the origins of some of the surnames in our family tree: 

Fuscà/Fusca, DiPalma/DePalma, Orazi, Ortale, Bova (Boova), Biviano, Torchia, LaChimia, Cena, Nuzzo, Catino, DiNardo/DeNardo, Donato, Pelaja, Papillo, Barba, Filia, Moscato/Muscato, Francalanza, DiSandro/DeSandro, Aversa 

The maps below are from  www.gens.labo.net  They are very revealing and indicate where in Italy people with a particular last name live today. Higher concentrations are a good indicator of where surnames most likely originated long ago. Most of the surnames in our family trees originated in southern Italy. Just as many people left southern Italy to come to America, Australia, Canada and South America in the late 1800's and early 1900's to seek better jobs and opportunities, many also moved within Italy - to northern Italy for the same reasons. There was also a second migration out of the southern Italy after World War II.

Here is a list of old family names from Vazzano:

and old family names from Pizzoni:

It is pretty clear that our branch of the Fuscà family has lived in central Calabria for centuries. Using the old Civil Records for the towns of Vazzano, Pizzoni and Soriano, you can follow our direct line back as far as 6 generations into the mid 1700's to Paolo Fuscà and Anna Di Sandro. Other historical resources refer to people with our surname living there much earlier.

Because of regional dialects, cultural differences and geographic isolation, origins of many Italian last names can be traced to specific areas or even to specific towns.  Fuscà and Fusca are very rare names in Italy outside of Vibo Valentia Province in central Calabria where the local dialect has a very strong Greek influence.  We can assume our family name originated there back in the Middle Ages. 

It seems Fuscà and Fusca are not variations of the fairly common Italian surname "Fusco", which means "dark or dusky". Fuscà, with the accent mark and Fusca, without the accent mark are different branches of the same family. The Dizionario dei Cognomi e Sopranomi in Calabria - Dictionary of Surnames and Nicknames in Calabria, compiled by Gergard Rolf, printed in Ravenna 1979, states that: "The surname Fuscà originates in the regions of Cosenza and Catanzaro around Vibo Valentia.  It means "venditore di pula" - dealer/seller of chaff.  Incidentally, the word "fusca" in Greek means "bran". 

I remember my grandfather (Don) telling me, as a boy, the Fusca's, without the accent mark, "They were brigands!" he said - outlaws, bandits. The accent mark was added to distance our branch of the family from them. I thought at the time that "brigand" was an odd name for him to use to describe outlaws but just figured it was Pap using an unusual word to describe something simple.  But the word rolled around in my mind and stayed there.  In doing research on Calabria and our family, I came to find out that Brigands, Brigante in Italian, were a big part of the Calabrese culture in the 1800's and highly romanticized. Much like outlaws in the American Wild West - The James Gang, Billy the Kid... Vazzano was the home a famous brigante chief - Francesco Moscato - nicknamed "U Vizzarru".  No kidding. I'm including a link with more information.

This name was spelled interchangeably as DiPalma and DePalma.  "Di" is the old form.  Civil Records for Marianna's father and earlier show the name spelled as DiPalma. Different Civil Records for Marianna show it variously as DiPalma and DePalma, depending on the document.  

DiPalma or DePalma are rare names in Calabria, however. At some point, possibly in the early 1700's, the family moved there from Naples or possibly from Bari in Puglia.  DiPalma is a common name around Naples. name.

This name sounds Italian but is not found much outside of Calabria. It may be of Spanish origin. The Spanish ruled Calabria and southern Italy in the 1500-1600's. And brought wonderful things to southern Italian cooking from their New World Conquests such as the TOMATO !!!

Bova