Genealogy

I was going to complain about how I need to up my Italian skillz because I can hardly do family research when it takes me forever to translate a web site. No need to blog that, just to stfu and practice, right? One web site, which I've seen before, has my family's coat of arms. There's even a fun little legend about how the name started:

One two Princes kneel before you. That's what I said now.... Ack! Effing Spin Doctors...

There were two Princes, Brothers. Each had a castle on the opposite side of a river. Water grew scarce, each needed it. They fought over the river -the about to take up arms against each other fighting, not the whining to mom that he stole my water kind of fighting. My ancestor came along and built a contraption which split the river and made it flow towards both Princedoms. He was declared Master of the Water and given his own land and title. That's one story of how I became a Mastromarino. Here's our coat of arms:

(had to remove it, will upload it elsewhere! 1/26)


The page that has the coat of arms talks about the ancient origins of the name and traces it back to, I think, Thrace. It tries to follow as the name evolves into Mastromarino and other offshoots. If you're fluent in Italian, please take a look at the page and let me know your take on it. There's a whole big deal about us being related to a Templar. Interesting...

If you're in the mood for some surname fun, check out where your name is most popular in Italy and in the US: http://www.gens.labo.net/it/cognomi/

I'll post about why family lines are important, including the adopted ones, another time. Add it to my growing list of posts to post!