Traina Namesakes

 

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks : Week 3 - Namesake

This year, 2021, I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks genealogy challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Hopefully, this will not only jump-start my research, but will also help me write up some of the research I've already done.

I have not done a lot of research on my father's family, fond of them as I am, since the family line jumps back so quickly to Italy, and I'm not yet prepared to delve into international research. Still, given how little I know about the family as a whole, any bit of information is a breakthrough in my eyes.

My father, Frank Joseph Traina and his siblings were all named for grandparents. I didn't realize this until I started adding them to the family tree, and then it was quite obvious. The two oldest, Frank and Frances, were named for their father's parents. Vincent (who was called Jimmy within the family) and Mary Ann, the two youngest, were named for their mother's parents. This appears to be a fairly common naming practice for Italian families, although, from what I have seen in on-line trees for the family, my grandparents are the only ones in their families who followed this formula.

 

Franceso Traina and Francesca Lorio [I've seen many different spellings, including Lorria, Lorrie.] were both born in Italy. They married there, and, at least three of their children were born there (as far as I'm aware) – Frances, Paolina, and Salvatore – were born in Italy. Some time between 1895 and 1897 they moved to the United States where they added four more children to the family –Miriam, Guiseppe or Joseph, Lillian, and Lucy.

Guiseppe Traina, my grandfather, used the English form of his name, Joseph, for most of his life. He was born on February 22, 1902 in Jersey City, New Jersey. His birth return, signed by the midwife, is shown below. It states that Francesco Traina and Francesca Lorio are his parents. Francesco's age is given as 40 on the document. Unfortunately, the image is not clear enough to see Francesca's age. 

Lillian R. Maita, my grandmother, was the daughter of Vincenzo and Marianna or Marion (Reina) Maita. I have not found any official birth record for Lillian, although I do have birth records for her siblings Carmela, Eleanor, Nancy, and Salvatore. Eleanor's birth record is shown below. Lillian appears in the 1915 New Jersey state census as Rosalie, which I assume, was her middle name.

Birth Return for Guiseppe "Joseph" Traina.
New Jersey Vital Records, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton.

Birth record for Eleanor Maita.
New Jersey Vital Records, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton.