Quezel surname in Italy?

ellisk

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Does anyone know anything about the surname Quezel, especially in Sorrento (or southern Italy in general)?

It seems to be from the Occitan language, but then it's most common in Savoy, which is Arpitan and not Occitan. Why would a Savoyard or Occitan family move to that part of Italy, is there a documented emigration from that area to Italy? Is the family actually Occitan, or something else?

I can't find any records of my ancestors that really go anywhere...
 
Hello there Ellisk, welcome to Eupedia. I think I found a match with your surname, there was a glass making company a century ago. The Company Quezel; or glass historians for that matter mentioned that the name is an alternative spelling to the Guatemalan Bird; Quetzal. Do you have Spanish or Latin American direct ancestors? Alternatively the name Quezel is also an Old Occitan name for a quiet and tranquil man. :)


Anyhow, I'm afraid we can't figure out whom your direct ancestors are because Paternity tests are too recent of an invention and assimilation. So the only way to accurately find out where your direct ancestors came from, a YDNA test can help you with that.
Your YDNA only covers your father's, father's, fathers, father's...... Lineage so it's always good to reader has your paper trail and do autosomal tests to compare. :)

Hope this helps




https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzal

http://surnames.behindthename.com/bb/sur/4673731


http://www.wheatonarts.org/7926-2/past-exhibitions/1990-to-1999-exhibitions/1996-flights-of-fancy-the-quezal-art-glass-and-decorating-company/
 
Does anyone know anything about the surname Quezel, especially in Sorrento (or southern Italy in general)?

It seems to be from the Occitan language, but then it's most common in Savoy, which is Arpitan and not Occitan. Why would a Savoyard or Occitan family move to that part of Italy, is there a documented emigration from that area to Italy? Is the family actually Occitan, or something else?

I can't find any records of my ancestors that really go anywhere...

I looked up your surname in some Italian sources.

This is the gens labo one that was done from phone book information. There is someone in Sorrento, and a few more in the Veneto. I can't tell from this the direction of the movement, i.e. whether there was a branch in the Veneto that moved south or vice versa.

http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turi...-italia?cognome=Quezel&x=32&y=15#.WAqRpeArLNM

This is from another source:
http://locatemyname.com/it/Quezel

The largest number around the world seem to be from France, and then Canada, so no doubt French-Canadian.

In Italy this is what they find:

I don't think you'd be far off track in hypothesizing that the first Quezal family in Italy was actually from France.

"Migliori nelle Regioni Locali
  1. Veneto = 4
  2. Campania = 2
  3. Liguria = 1
  4. Trentino-Alto Adige=1
Without a genealogical trail, it's not clear whether the surname could have reached Naples directly or whether it was mediated through migrants from Liguria (of which there were many) or the Veneto. If it reached Naples directly, it could have been with the Angevins. See the following:
https://italianangevins2013.wordpress.com/who-where-were-the-italian-angevins/

You can find a lot more information on Angevin rule, and the rebellion against them, on the internet.

Records for births and deaths, marriages etc. are all documented in Italy, back to the mid-1500s at least, because of the Council of Trent. However, when you're talking about 16th, 17th century etc. it's all in church records, so it's rather laborious going from church to church and reading some moldering volumes to get the exact trail. Before the mid-1500's, there's very little.

It sounds as if you've done some research if you know they didn't move much if at all from what you can see. That's typical for large groups of Italians, especially if they were farmers or even just came from small, rural areas. What that tells you is that whatever the origin of the surname and the first man in Italy to bear it, your ancestors shortly became autosomally Italian, and in your case southern Italian.

If you test at somewhere like 23andme you'll see that, I'm pretty sure.

By the way, Sorrento is a nice little tourist town today with a beautiful setting, and is a perfect base of operations for exploring the Amalfi coast, Vesuvius, Capri and Ischia.
 
The Company Quezel; or glass historians for that matter mentioned that the name is an alternative spelling to the Guatemalan Bird; Quetzal. Do you have Spanish or Latin American direct ancestors?
I don't have any Latin American, but we used to think it was Spanish. I doubt it is anymore, though.

The largest number around the world seem to be from France, and then Canada, so no doubt French-Canadian.
I did notice a lot of Quebecois with the name, and it led me to wonder if there were an influx of Occitan or Arpitan immigrants to Quebec, if an amount of the original French settlers came from the south of France. I could use their genealogy to figure out mine.

Without a genealogical trail, it's not clear whether the surname could have reached Naples directly or whether it was mediated through migrants from Liguria (of which there were many) or the Veneto.
Were there a lot of immigrants from Liguria to Naples? I can't find any information on this.

Oh, I forgot to mention some things. It was my great-great-grandmother's surname, and according to some older family members, she used to say it was from "Abbasso" (the Italian word for "below", but below what?), and apparently she also used to say it was German...I have no clue what that could mean, besides a relic of the Gothic and Lombardic invasions (I'm wild for that time period so I've kinda been crossing my fingers). The Occitans do have a lot of Gothic cultural heritage, though, so it could be something. Although it's most likely the Occitan etymology of "quiet", I used to think it could be related to the Norse "Kettil" or the OHGerman "wahtala" (in Lombardic w- becomes gw-), although there's neither umlaut (/wah/ > /wäh/) nor t > z, so I tend not to believe this anymore.
I'm sorry for forgetting these details, though! I just wonder what "abbasso" could mean geographically, and what she could have possibly meant by "German"...
 
I don't have any Latin American, but we used to think it was Spanish. I doubt it is anymore, though.


I did notice a lot of Quebecois with the name, and it led me to wonder if there were an influx of Occitan or Arpitan immigrants to Quebec, if an amount of the original French settlers came from the south of France. I could use their genealogy to figure out mine.


Were there a lot of immigrants from Liguria to Naples? I can't find any information on this.

Oh, I forgot to mention some things. It was my great-great-grandmother's surname, and according to some older family members, she used to say it was from "Abbasso" (the Italian word for "below", but below what?), and apparently she also used to say it was German...I have no clue what that could mean, besides a relic of the Gothic and Lombardic invasions (I'm wild for that time period so I've kinda been crossing my fingers). The Occitans do have a lot of Gothic cultural heritage, though, so it could be something. Although it's most likely the Occitan etymology of "quiet", I used to think it could be related to the Norse "Kettil" or the OHGerman "wahtala" (in Lombardic w- becomes gw-), although there's neither umlaut (/wah/ > /wäh/) nor t > z, so I tend not to believe this anymore.
I'm sorry for forgetting these details, though! I just wonder what "abbasso" could mean geographically, and what she could have possibly meant by "German"...

Since the name exists in Campania, and your ancestor comes from Campania, I don't quite see how Quebecois genealogy is going to help other, perhaps, than to tell you the region of France from which their ancestors came. It's highly unlikely they or anyone else could go back much further than that. As I said, most systematic records only began with the Council of Trent. Plus, you already know that the name comes from southern France.

I can't help with what she meant by "abasso", which is probably a way of saying "below". In Italy it's not uncommon for there to be an ancient fortified town on the heights, and a more modern town below. Other than that I don't know to what she could have been referring. As to "German", perhaps they misunderstood. The only people who would have any family tradition of descent from Lombards would be members of the high nobility. Even in that case it wouldn't apply, because the reference wouldn't be to "Germans"; it would be to the Langobardi. There's also nothing "German" about the name.

There was no organized, large scale migration from northern Italy to Campania as there was to Sicily, but Napoli is a port and trading center, and some Ligurians as well as Venetians could have moved there for business. I know a Neapolitan family who descend from a banking family in Genova.
 
Does anyone know anything about the surname Quezel, especially in Sorrento (or southern Italy in general)?

I've found a Garibaldino with surname Quezel/Quesel from Liguria/Piedmont dead in Sorrento, Campania, on May 5 1876.

Carlo Emanuele Quezel/Quesel born in Genoa, April 18 1837, to Ambrogio and Caterina Corradi. Dead in Sorrento, Campania, May 5 1876.

cfr. Quesel (...), E.I.M., registro 207 ter; cfr. Quesel Carlo, E.I.M., registro 207 bis 3, n. ordine 112; Morto a Sorrento il 5 maggio 1876

- Compagnia 1ª
- Decorato

http://archiviodistatotorino.beniculturali.it/work/garb_detl.php?garb_id=6325

On Ancestry.com there are some informations about Carlo Emanuele Quezel/Queizel/Quesel.

Were there a lot of immigrants from Liguria to Naples? I can't find any information on this.

Not a lot, but there was a Genoese community in Naples and in San Leucio, Caserta (The Royal Palace of Caserta).

San Giorgio dei Genovesi was the church of the Genoese community in Naples.

521px-Genovesi2.JPG
 
I've found a Garibaldino with surname Quezel/Quesel from Liguria/Piedmont dead in Sorrento, Campania, on May 5 1876.

Carlo Emanuele Quezel/Quesel born in Genoa, April 18 1837, to Ambrogio and Caterina Corradi. Dead in Sorrento, Campania, May 5 1876.

cfr. Quesel (...), E.I.M., registro 207 ter; cfr. Quesel Carlo, E.I.M., registro 207 bis 3, n. ordine 112; Morto a Sorrento il 5 maggio 1876

- Compagnia 1ª
- Decorato

On Ancestry.com there are some informations about Carlo Emanuele Quezel/Queizel/Quesel.



Not a lot, but there was a Genoese community in Naples and in San Leucio, Caserta (The Royal Palace of Caserta).

San Giorgio dei Genovesi was the church of the Genoese community in Naples.

I've been away awhile, so I didn't see this until now...this definitely looks like he could be related, thank you! Apparently there were a few people named Carlo Emanuele in that area, but not in the right time period. One thing I do remember hearing about him was that he either lived in Egypt or was born in Egypt...I forgot to mention it earlier but that's another thing I'd be interested in exploring.
 
I've found a Garibaldino with surname Quezel/Quesel from Liguria/Piedmont dead in Sorrento, Campania, on May 5 1876.

Carlo Emanuele Quezel/Quesel born in Genoa, April 18 1837, to Ambrogio and Caterina Corradi. Dead in Sorrento, Campania, May 5 1876.


On Ancestry.com there are some informations about Carlo Emanuele Quezel/Queizel/Quesel.

In north italy as single s within a word always has a zed sound ................if you want to retain the s sound, one needs to use ss

Which is why the clerks, write Quesel or Quezel
 

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