Porreca

PORRECA: Probably from the Latin "porrectum" = plateau, extension, to indicate someone coming from this kind of place

The following possible history of the Porreca family name differs from others that I have seen. For this reason I have my doubts to the authenticity. If you have more precise details please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to provide the information.

The Italian surname of PORRECA was an occupational name for a swineherd, or an affectionate nickname from the Old French word POURCEL (piglet).

The name may even have perhaps meant a butcher. Men who were purveyors of meat were prominent everywhere and there are many family names which can reveal the ancestor who was in this profession. They were respected and became prominent tradesmen, whose wealth often enabled them to hire servants to cut up and sell the meat. The name was rendered in ancient documents in the Latin form PORCELLUS. Other spellings of the name include POURCEL, PURCEAU, PORCIELLO, PURCEL, PORCELLOTTO and PORCELLAZZI. Despite evidence that hereditary surnames were in use in the Venetian Republic as early as the 10th Century, the origin of many Italian surnames is unclear. There is still a great potential for research into medieval Italian records while documented evidence indicates the adoption of the father's name as a surname is the most common form. The familiar endings of "i" and "o", meaning to be a member of a certain family, bears this out. The Church played a very important role in Central Italian heraldry and many Italian families who derived their titles from popes incorporated elements of the papal insignia, notably the papal tiara and the crossed keys, on their Coats of Arms. As in the rest of Europe, the turbulent history of Italy in the Middle Ages is reflected in its heraldry. Traces remain from the successive invasions of the Germans, French, Spanish and Austrians. Certain characteristics, such as the use of horse-shaped shields which were put on the foreheads of horses during tournaments, remain uniquely Italian. Social conditions in Southern Italy during the agricultural depression of the late 19th Century spurred the first wave of emigration as thousands of people escaped to the New World. Latin America was the original destination for these early settlers but as the economy strengthened in the United States, North America became more popular. By the end of the 19th Century there were more Italian migrants in the USA than from any other country. In the Post-War era more than a quarter of Italy's population left the country to find a new life in America and Australia. While many Italian names have survived intact, many families chose to anglicise their surnames to fit in with their new country.