Albasini

There is little doubt that the most difficult European surnames to research are Italian, and specifically Italian diminutives or patronymics. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that hereditary spellings were often not adopted until the 19th Century, or even the early 20th Century. In the case of Albasiny or Albasini, all that can be stated with certainty is that although recorded in Switzerland, the name is of (Roman) Italian origins, and derives from "albus", meaning white, a nickname for a fair-haired person, or one with a pale complexion. The "root" of the name "Alba" is well recorded back into the 16th Century, and over the centuries dozens, if not hundreds, of diminutive suffixes have been added. These include: "i, in, ini, ino, erin" and "erini", and all have the same essential meanings of "little" or "son of", or "nephew, niece" or "cousin". The development in this case has also been confused by transposition with "Albanisi", being transposed to "Albasini". The development being from Alba to Albano to Albanesi to Albasini. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Giacinta Albanisi, which was dated September 15th 1697, christened at Paterno, Catania, Italia, during the reign of Pope Innocent X11, July 1691 - September 1700. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.