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Surnames of Piran - Pirano Genealogy
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Names, surnames and nicknames in the Pirano area.

We find the most ancient surnames of Pirano in the "Chartularium Piranense", collection of the most important medieval documents of Pirano compiled by the Istrian writer Camillo de Franceschi (from Moncalvo di Pisino).. The documents are collected in two volumes; the first one contains 232 documents rom the year 1062 to the year 1299, the second includes 236 and they go from 1300 to 1350.

Therefore, there are altogether 468 documents, wills, inventories, gift awards, contracts of sale, peace treaties etc. in which the medieval life of Pirano of the 1200 and the 1300 is summarized and in which the exponents of the most ancient piranesi families appear.

Some late surnames did not take form until after the 1350 and even later like the ones documented by " Notizie storiche della città di Pirano (Historical News of the city of Pirano)" by prof. Luigi Morteani.

For the origin of some surnames the work of Gianni Pinguentin "I nostri Cognomi (Our Surnames)", (Trieste 1971), was consulted.

I thank Marino Bonifacio (Colandi) - also born in Pirano - now a resident of Trieste, for his collaboration without which this research would not have been possible.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the most ancient surnames of Pirano:

Amigoni	- came to Pirano in 1700 from unknown location
Apollonio	- documented in Pirano l as a name from 1201 and a surname from the 1228 (Petro Apolonio).
Argentin	- the surname exists in the 1600.
Bartole	- come from Venice they are found already in the 1530.
Baselli	- come from Venice in the 1600.
Bassanese	- documented in Pirano since1325 by the Bassano name.
Benedetti	- the name Benedetto is documented since 1295-96, the surname does not seem to have been formed before 1350.
Benvenuti	- arrived from Grado at the beginning of the 1600.
Bocassin	- from the 1500.
Bonifacio	- documented in Pirano like name in the 1230, surname in the 1298 (Domenico de Bonifacio).
Bonin	- documented from the 1231, Giovanni Bonvino, become Bonino in the 1263.
Bontempo	- from the 1600.
Borsatti	- from the 1500.
Braico	- in the 1657 the Albanian Micho Braicovich, head of ten families.
Brazzafogli	- from the 1285 (Johannis Bricafollis).
Brazzati	- from the 1325 (Nicelao de Nebrixato and in the 1329 Petrus Bricati father of Nicolò).
Bullo	- came from Chioggia in 1700 (see the Ciosoto nickname).
Callegari	- documented in the 1549.
Castro	- like surname in the 1255, but already in the 1064 we find a lord of a castle " Artuico de Castro Pyranensi ".
Chierego	- from the 1400 in Pirano.
Contento	- documented in Pirano in the 1500.
Corsi	- documented from the 1325, year in which the banker Giovanni Corsi " de Florentia " (from Florence) came to Pirano from Trieste.
Cusma	- documented from the 1325 in Pirano.
Dapretto	- in the 1270 the parish priest Preto, de Pretto (see " Pirano, la sua chiesa, la sua storia" (Pirano, its church, its history) by A. Alisi) and a Giovanni Dapretto in of the 1301, that is Giovanni son of Pietro (the Piranese Surname Dapretto derives from the patronimic "of Peter").
Del senno	- from the 1283 (Muncio Seno from of Pirano owner of one vine in Limignano).
Dessardo	- (i.e. De Sardo)- in medieval documents of Pirano of the 1200 and the 1300.
Dolce	- came in the 1500 from Caorle (Venice).
Fonda	- from the 1230 (Dominicus Fonda) ancient of Pirano.
Fornasaro	- from the 1300 according to the Morteani book about Pirano.
Fragiacomo	- from the 1500 - Domenico Fraiacomo to Pirano and a Jacob Fraiacol- 1549
Furian	- in the 1400 from Venice. Piranese painter Matteo Furian who ---made the shovel of the right altar of Santo Stefano and the portraits of the popes Alexander V, Giulio II in the apse of the church of San Francesco.
Gabrielli	- indigenous surname from the name Gabriel. Between the 1263 and the1287 we find in Pirano a citizen named Gabriele that has a son. Therefore in the 1301 we find "Petrum de Gabriel". In the 1328 we find Gabriele son of the late Pietro Gabrieli.
Giacchin	- from the 1500 (the surname derives from the name Giacomo).
Giassi	- from the 1500.
Giraldi	- ancient surname of Pirano, from the 1290 (Dominicus Giraldi) derived from Giraldo name.
Giurco	- from the 1325, Nicolò Giurco.
Goina	- from the 1328 from the nickname of a son of a Vidali from Pirano, Enrico Goina.
Grimalda	- ancient Istrian surname from the Grimaldo name.
Indrigo	- from the 1306 - venetian form of the name Enrico - Hendrico.
Lazzari	- came from the Friuli.
Lugnani	- from the 1261 and the 1286 (in the 1261 we find a Lugnani, galea commander that lives in Pirano, in the 1286 we find another Lugnani from Caorle that spouse one Tamaro.
Maraspin	- between the 1350 and the 1400 came to Pirano from Venice but they are from Florence.
Mistaro	- from the 1500 in Pirano. Antonio Miste in the 1549 and Simone Mistaro in the 1579.
Muiesan	- from the 1600 from Muggia.
Nasazio	- came from Milan to Pirano around the 1650.
Pagliaro	- from the 1291.
Parenzan	- from the 1500.
Pavan	- came from Rovigno in 1700.
Petronio	- from the 1247 (Domenico Petronio, is perhaps a descendant from a Roman family, the ancient "gens Petronia" so called because from one stony zone, the sabina.
Pettener	- from the 1268 (Albinus Petenarius).
Pierobon	- from the 1290 (in the 1290 a Petrus Banus and in the 1294 a Petru Bonus).
Pitacco	- from the 1500.
Poropat	- the original surname is Poropatich/Poropatic and comes from the Montenegro,- since the family of captains Marco and Giorgio Poropatich around the 1590 lead in the territory of Parenzo some "morlachs" families, then they scattered for all the Istria.
Predonzani	- from the 1273 - Henricus Prodenco, ancient surname of Pirano derived from the name Prudenziano
Radivo	- from the 1305 (Radico dell'Arco - in the 1338 Benedetto Radivo) ancient Piranese surname deriving from the name Corrado-Corradivo-Radivo
Rastelli	- came in the 1600 from Casale (Piedmont)
Ravalico	- ancient surname of Pirano, istrian geographic surname (Ravarico village near Pola - today Lavarigo)
Rossetti	- came to Pirano in 1700 - from Friuli or Veneto.
Rosso	- ancient from the 1273 we find in Pirano a citizen named Rubeo Therefore Rosso -(red), that is Marco Rubeo, the surname appears in Italian form in the 1328 (Domenico son of Marco Rosso)
Ruzzier	- from the name Ruggero son of Filippo Uguccioni arrived to Pirano from Florence in the 1325. The sons of Ruggero was called Ruggeri, in the 500 the dialectal form Ruzzier appeared (and also Luzzier in documents).
Rota	- came from Bergamo in the 1400.
Schiavuzzi	- come from Sebenico in the 1300.
Spadaro	- from the 1400 present in Pirano.
Tagliapietra	- ancient surname of Pirano from the 1258 (Blasio Taglapetra di SanBasso Strugnano). They have the "Valese" nickname because in the they lived to Strugnano in the valley.
Tamaro	- documented in Pirano from the 1193 (Ditmaro pievano (parish priest) of Pirano). Like surname in the 1283 (Amantino Tamar), in the 1296 (Almerico of late Detemario), in the 1301 (Almerico Detemario)
Tamburlini	- present in Pirano from the 1300.
Terrazzer	- came from the Friuli in the 1500.
Torre	- from the 1300.
Trani	- came to Pirano from Trani in Puglia between the 1350 and the 1400 (the first Trani of Pirano was a judge).
Ulcigrai	- from 1792 in Pirano with the form Lussigrai.
Vatta	- present in Pirano from the 1500.
Venier	- the surname derives from the name Venerio documented in Pirano from the 933 (Venerio de Augusto de Castro Pirano "Codice Diplomatico Istriano by Kandler"). The surname appears definitively formed in the 1258 (Almerico de Venerio).
Venturini	- present in Pirano in the 1500.
Veglia	- ancient surname of Pirano. Present in the form Vigla since the 1285(Adalghero de Vigla de Pirano) and in the 1328 (Lazzaro of late Adalpiero Veglia from Pirano).
Veronese	- from the 1500 coming from Chioggia.
Vidali	- ancient surname deriving from the name Vitalus-Vitale that we find in Pirano -from the 1203. Like surname from the 1258 (Facina Vidali from Pirano).
Zamarin	- from the 1500.
Zangrando	- surname verified in Pirano from the 1400, name of dialectal origin. In fact in ancient Piranese dialect "Zangrando" it means "large/tall Giovanni".The mother of Giuseppe Tartini, the most illustrious man from Pirano, was Caterina Zangrando.
Zarotti	- ancient Piranese surname deriving from the medieval name Zaroti. In the 1273 we find Lanzarotti, Lanzarotto - aphaeresis of the name (Lan-Zarotti). The surname appears definitively formed in the 1306 (Renzo Zarotti).
Zecchin	- from the 1500.
Zennaro	- in the 1328 we find in Pirano Giovanni and Zennaro heralds - communal auctioneers

Names - Nicknames

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