Italian Citizenship By Descent: A Bit of My Story and How to Start Yours

(In the photo: me and my brother Thiago)

Ciao!

Before I share how I started my journey toward getting my Italian citizenship by Descent, I think it makes sense to tell you a little about how this whole adventure began, right?.

Stick around until the end of this post — I’ve included some important tips for anyone just starting out on this path too!

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ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BY DESCENT: TRACING MY ITALIAN ROOTS

My story in this “world” began long before I even realized it. It all started with my not-so-common last name — Garofano. As a kid, I was always asking about its meaning, and my parents used to say it was because my Italian roots...

That surname actually caused a few “dramas” in the family too, believe it or not. Over time, due to inconsistencies in documents, each of my dad’s siblings ended up with a slightly different version of the last name. No big deal at first... but then each one swore their version was the “correct one.” “The real Italian one.” So we ended up with “Garofano,” “Garofalo,” and even a “Garofolo” thrown into the mix.

Besides the name, some family members actually remembered meeting the nonno and nonna — my great-grandparents — who supposedly came from Italy. I say “supposedly” because, back then, we had very little information and no solid sources to confirm it.

The only one who confidently claimed they were from southern Italy was my dad’s oldest sister, Dirce — lovingly nicknamed “the Crazy” 😅. One day she casually mentioned they were from the region of Calabria. And since I couldn’t imagine her making something like that up, I decided to dig deeper...

But how? Where to begin? Where could I even find reliable info about my ancestors? I didn’t even know their names, let alone their place of birth...

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FINDING CERTIFICATES

Many people don’t realize it, but birth and marriage certificates can provide super valuable information going back two generations!

For example, on my own birth certificate, it lists my parents’ names and birthplaces. My parents’ certificates list my grandparents and even great-grandparents — and so on.

And if you're missing any of those documents, you can request them directly from the registry office where the event (birth, marriage) was recorded.

It was when I got my grandfather’s certificate that I discovered something surprising: my great-grandparents — the nonno and nonna — were actually born in Brazil, right here in the countryside of São Paulo! I still remember that sinking feeling of disappointment....

But I didn’t give up. I kept digging, and eventually, I found that my Italian ancestors were actually my great-great-grandparents.

And although my aunt was right about them being from the south of Italy, they weren’t from Calabria — they were from Campania! My antenato, Luigi and Maria Giuseppa, were born and married in the town (comune) of Guardia Sanframondi, in the province of Benevento.

The next step was to start looking for the original documents in Italy and gather all the supporting records to prove my lineage. But that’s a story for another post...

Arrivederci !

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Quick tip: start by talking to your family — especially older relatives. They might have key info about your Italian ancestors that can help kick off your search. If you can’t get much from them, begin by checking your own birth certificate and then work your way back through your family tree using certificates and records..

Bonus tip [2]: On the Italian website Gens.info you can search for a surname and see where it's most commonly found in Italy. Is your last name Italian too? Comment below! But remember — having an Italian last name is not required to be eligible for Italian citizenship.

PS: About that whole surname “drama”… I finally found out in 2015, when I received my antenato’s original birth record from Italy, that my last name “Garofano” matched his exactly. Years later, during my trip to Italy, I even discovered that families with the surnames “Garofalo” and “Garofolo” also existed there — so it turns out all the versions were actually authentic Italian!