Halsema.org - The Leonardi Family -Roque Leonardi -- The Surname and Point of Origin

Roque Leonardi's Surname Variant Spellings by: halsema.org editors	Below are a few variant spelling of the Surname Leonardi /Lunardi. Throughout documents on this web site the reader will also see spellings such as Leonardy and Lleonardi. The purpose of pointing out these variant spellings and listing a few of them on this page is to demonstrate that this is indeed the same family in Italy from which Roque Leonardi descended when he emigrated to Florida.
	Roque Leonardi's father's (Giovanni Francesco or Joannes Franciscus) baptismal record spelling the surname Lunardi in 1710. His record is the second from the bottom of this page. See below where Giovanni's sister's baptisms are recorded spelling the surname Leonardi.
	Giovanni's sister Maria Domenica baptized using the spelling Leonardi in 1703. This is one of Roque's Aunts. Her record is at the top of the page.
	Giovanni's sister Pietra baptized using the spelling Leonardi in 1701. This is one of Roque's Aunts. Her record is in the middle of the page.
	Giovanni's first sister who was named Maria Magdalena baptized using the spelling Lunardi in 1709. This is one of Roque's Aunts. Her record is in the middle of the page.
	Giovanni's second sister who was named Maria Magdalena (the first died as an infant.) Baptized using the spelling Leonardi in 1713. This is one of Roque's Aunts. Her record is in the middle of the page. There are other baptismal records in Gragnanella where Roque's second cousins are baptized spelling the surname Leonardi and others Lunardi.
	This is a list from the Notarial Registers of Garfagnana examining occurrences of the spelling of the surname Leonardi and Lunardi between 1711 and 1793. Sometime the name is spelled differently in these registers than it is in the sacramental records freely interchanging Lunardi and Leonardi. For example, in 1726 and 1726 reference is made to Maria Nardini wife of Rocco Leonardi. This Rocco's surname is spelled Lunardi on his marriage record. He was Roque's grandfather (the father of Giovanni). Follow this link to see the marriage record of Rocco Lunardi and Maria Nardini.
	Roque’s 1768 marriage to Esperanza Balla in Menorca spelling the surname Lionardi
	In 1771 Father Pedro camps baptized the first of Esperanza Balla and Roque Leonardi's children. Fr. Camps spells the surname here Lleonardi. For the other baptisms of Roque's children Fr. Camps seems to spell the name Lleonard. Follow this link to see the baptismal records of Roque's other children.
	The 1784 Spanish Census of Florida listing the name as Roque Leonardi.
	The 1786 Census by Father Thomas Hassett of St. Augustine and Its Perimeter lists the name as Roque Leonardi. The record of Roque’s death in 1801 (CPR, #311) lists him as “Don Roque Leonardi … Natural del ducado de Modena en Italia,” or, “Native of the duchy of Modena in Italy” (translation by Doug Halsema).
	The 1793 Census lists the family under the name Roque Leonardy. See entry 123 near the bottom of the page.
	On the record of Roque’s death in 1801 Father Miguel O'Reilly lists him as “Don Roque Leonardi. In later church and civil records Roque's son Juan and his family are often listed as Leonardy. In the late 1800's the family of Celestino Julian Leonardi will come to spell the surname Leonardi.