Quattrucci

Quattrucci One-Name Study

Page Views: 2,908

Study details

Study: Quattrucci

Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

About the study

This One-Name Study is an attempt to gather information about the Quattrucci name throughout the world. I started research into my own family in 2006 after becoming particularly interested in the life of my grandfather, Giustiniano Giuseppe Vincenzo Quattrucci, who emigrated from Italy to England in 1907. I now have information on almost all of the Quattrucci family currently living in England and I have traced my family back to the mid-1600s in Italy, as well as finding relatives in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Australia and the USA. I am happy to share my information and I would be very pleased to hear from anyone with the Quattrucci name or who has information relevant to my research.

Variant names

Although I have no registered variants at present, I am aware of various similar names, mainly in the USA, which are probably the result of mis-spelling upon arrival at Ellis Island and other ports. Examples of these are: Quatrucci, Quattricci. Quattrocci, Quattrecci, Quadracci, Quadrozzi. I am interested in the name Quartucci, from which my name seems to have evolved. The name Quattrocchi originated in Sicily and is not connected in any way with the name Quattrucci.

Name origin

The Quattrucci name originates from Arce, a small town in the mountains of Italy in the province of Frosinone (formerly Caserta), about equal distance from Rome and Naples. There is no evidence that this name started in any other place, so it is almost certain that all of us with this name are related.

I am particularly grateful to my fellow researcher, Vincenzo Quattrucci, who has discovered that our surname developed during the 1600s as a corruption of the more common name of Quartucci or Quartuccio. He has suggested four possible origins of these names:

1. When the Angioni ruled the Kingdom of Naples from 1246 to 1435, a tax was introduced which required payment to permit passage of a supplies wagon carrying food, oil, wine, etc. through certain areas. This tax was known as a 'Quartuccio'. Maybe someone collecting these taxes could have been known by this name.

2. The same name is given to a measure of a liquid, probably wine or oil. The 'Quarto' or 'Quartuccio' amounts to a quarter of a litre and the name could have been given to someone dealing in small quantities of wine or oil.

3. In Aquino in 1633, the name 'Quartuccio' was an old measurement of land equal to approximately 400 square metres. In an inventory from the 'Archivio Boncompagni Ludovisi', now kept in the Vatican Archives, Vincenzo discovered two locations named 'Quartuccio', one in Rocca d'Arce, the town further up the hill from Arce, and the other in Coldragone (now known as Colfelice). Vincenzo suggests the possibilities that either the land was owned by a Quartuccio family and it took its name from this, or that the family originated in these areas and took their name from the land.

4. Vincenzo's final suggestion is less likely, but quite fascinating. During the period when Augusto was the first emperor of Rome, from 27BC to 14AD, there was a demobilisation of some of the army. The veterans of a certain fourth legion, named 'Legio IIII' or 'Legio Quarto' were given land in the vicinity of the Liri River, where Arce is situated, and were actually the founders of the nearby town of Sora. The name 'Quartuccio' could have originated from these soldiers.

During the 1500s and 1600s, with the decline of the Latin language, the grammar rules of declension became redundant and it didn't seem important to spell the name with the letter 'o' at the end.

Historical occurrences of the name

Don Nicola Quattrucci, my GGGG Grandfather, was born in Arce in 1749. In 1796 he was elected Governor of the nearby town of Arpino. During the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th century, the French Republicans had taken Rome and then marched on Naples, forcing the King and Queen of the Two Sicilies (Naples and Sicily) to evacuate to Palermo with the assistance of Nelson. Naples descended into anarchy with barbaric violence on both sides. The landowners armed their labourers to help fight off the French, who were defeated just weeks later. Now that the invaders had been vanquished, albeit for a short time, the local Governors received instructions from King Ferdinando to retrieve all weapons given to the labourers and Don Nicola spoke publicly to the inhabitants of Arpino. Angry at what they had heard and not prepared to give up their arms, several of the inhabitants dragged Nicola from his office and attacked and killed him. His head and limbs were cut from his body and his severed head was displayed in a window of a nearby church. The king sent troops to maintain peace and investigate the incident and two local men were subsequently executed for Don Nicola's murder. I have uncovered other examples of murder, attempted murder, bigamy, blackmail, bankruptcy, illegitimacy and incest. So, just another ordinary family!

Name frequency

The Quattrucci name is not a common name, even in Italy, with just 70 entries in the national phone book in 2010. By comparison, there are several hundred in the USA. I believe mine is an ideal name to research as it is neither too rare nor too common. Apart from the USA, in each of the countries mentioned below there are no more than a handful of families bearing the Quattrucci name.

Distribution of the name

Almost all the Quattruccis currently in England, probably around 30 in number, originate from my Grandfather, although I have recently been in contact with a couple of people from two different Quattrucci families living here. There are many more in the USA, with almost 20 entering that country through Ellis Island in the early years of the 20th century. Other countries with small numbers of the Quattrucci name include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Canada, France, Germany and Australia. I have made contact with people in each of these countries and have been able to link almost all of them to my own family. It has been my great pleasure to contact members of the Quattrucci family across the world, especially in Italy, where I have located and met many distant cousins who have been extremely helpful by providing me with useful information, documents and photographs.

Data

The UK Census has been of little value. My Grandfather seems to have been the only Quattrucci to migrate to England early in the 20th century and as such he was the only Quattrucci to feature in the census records of 1911 and 1921, other than my English Grandmother, whom he had married soon after his arrival in England. The census and immigration records of the US have been extremely helpful, but records in South America still present a challenge. Much of my data has been obtained by viewing the Church of the Latter Day Saints' films of birth, marriage and death records from Arce and surrounding towns from around 1808 to 1865. With the invaluable help of an Italian researcher and contacting or visiting Italian archives myself, I have also obtained other local records. In the last few years I have been in regular contact with Vincenzo, a member of the Quattrucci family in Italy, a person who is enthusiastically researching his own family line, and who has been able to access historic records that I didn't know existed. He has freely shared his information with me and I am especially grateful to him.

Contact Details

Mr Brian Quattrucci

Is your surname here?