Heritage & Ancestry

On 10 February 1901, Italian census enumerators knocked on doors across the country. They recorded every person in every household

Over 1.4 million Australians claim Italian heritage. Most Italian families arrived between 1880 and 1970. Their descendants now live across

Between 1880 and 1924, more than 4 million Italians crossed the Atlantic. Most of them came from southern Italy —

Most Italian-Americans know their family came from Sicily, or Calabria, or Campania. But which village? That is the question that

Most Italian-American families know their ancestors came from somewhere in Italy. But finding the exact village on a modern map

Most Italian-Americans know which region their family came from. They know it was Sicily, or Campania, or Calabria. But ask

Your great-grandmother left a village in Calabria. Your grandfather carried a Sicilian surname. Somewhere in Italy, a family buried the

If your great-grandparents came from Italy, you may have more than a family story. You may have a legal right

Argentina is home to more than 25 million people of Italian descent. That makes it the largest Italian diaspora community

Somewhere in an Italian archive, your ancestor’s dowry agreement still exists. A notary wrote it by hand in a leather-bound

Your great-grandfather owned a piece of land in Calabria. He farmed it before he left Italy. He sold it or

If you have Italian ancestry, you probably know about civil records and the Antenati portal. But there is another set

You found the record. Your great-grandmother’s birth certificate. A marriage entry from 1882. A death record from a village in

Learn exactly how to contact an Italian comune to request birth, marriage, and death certificates for your Italian ancestors. Includes bilingual letter templates, tips on finding your ancestral town, and what to do when records are hard to find.

Millions of Italian-Americans carry surnames that look different from their Italian cousins. The popular story blames Ellis Island officers. But

Your great-grandparents left Italy over a century ago. They boarded a ship at Naples or Palermo, crossed the Atlantic, and