Diana, et al.
Just to remind folks, on a trip to Portugal several years ago I documented the family
name, CARRICO, back to the 11th century when the first king of Portugal commissioned a
great cathedral in Coimbra that is still in existence from the Reconquista period; and, at
the same time a mission in the coastal area about 40 kilometers to the west was
consecrated in the small village of Matos do Carrico, near Figueira da Foz. This entire
area is a marshy plain at the mouth of the Mondego River. Great for a specific variety of
grape which is made into a beautiful red wine.
I found the following reference while researching the name in Portugal: "This is from
a family without known history having a name that may either derive from a nickname or has
roots in names of places. Their coat of arms is of silver with three carricos of green
placed where blue water comes from the earth. Their seal is unknown." A drawing of
the above mentioned Carrico Coat of Arms appears in the Grande Enciclopedia Portuguesa e
Brisileira, Editorial Limitado. Lisboa Rio de Janeiro. Vol 6.
The name may appear in other languages, including English, but the original Portuguese
spelling survives. The word, carrico, with two Rs, has a specific meaning in the
Portuguese, is derived from Latin, as might be expected, and has been pronounced the same
way since the Roman presence in the region. Matos do Carrico, being in a coastal plain and
at the mouth of a great river, has lots of reeds
and marsh plants, hence the name Carrico (the name being derived from the
word of the same spelling meaning marsh plant with cane-like stem and tasseled top). The
word also refers to a small marsh wren.
I have not found the name or word, so spelled, in Italian, French or Spanish national
lexicons. The Spanish gave up the cedilla accent (originally from the Visigoth z) and tend
to spell the name CARRISSO when it is used in Spanish. Naturally, people with the name
have crisscrossed the border thousands time over the millennia so the name may be found
among Spanish families as well as Portuguese. There are literally hundreds of Carricos in
the Lisbon phone book. Not sure about Madrid, but I would guess not based on conversations
with Spanish friends.
Tim Carrico Weaver
W. Timothy Weaver
Owner
Greenleaf Inn
Market Street Inn
Newburyport's Premier Extended Stay Hotel
22 Market Street
Newburyport, MA
978-465-5816 (P)
978-463-8640 (F)
www.greenleafinnnewburyport.com
www.furnished-rentals.com
-----Original Message-----
From: gc-gateway(a)rootsweb.com <gc-gateway(a)rootsweb.com>
To: CARRICO-L(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Sat, Nov 14, 2009 4:54 am
Subject: Re: [CARRICO] Carrico and de Crevecoeur
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Author: Diana_Gale_Matthiesen
Surnames: Carrico
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.carrico/348.3.1.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
The American CARRICOs have spread from Maryland westward and southward. I've
extracted many early census records for CARRICO:
http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/Census/Carrico/CarricoCensusHub.shtml
The CARRICOs have no DNA match with anyone, not even remotely, except with each
other:
http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/DNA/Carrico/CarricoDNA.shtml#J-2a4b
I have never heard of a CARRICO changing their name to CRAIG or CRAGO, and the
lack of a DNA match, at least so far, supports that there's been no such change.
Names usually retain the same number of pronounced syllables, even if the
spelling changes to a phonetic equivalent, and CARRICO has three syllables. I
can think of no other name that sounds like CARRICO, so the spelling variations
are few and limited (e.g., CARICO, CARACO, CARRIÇOE, etc.).
I have not searched European records for CARRICO, though I know other
researchers have. Tim Weaver's work on Portuguese CARRICO stands out in my
mind.
The orthography of the name suggests it's Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese,
possibly French. It's decidedly not an English surname, so the UK would not be
high on my list of places to search, except for ship manifests. We know Peter
arrived in the New World on an English ship. Until a DNA match pins down our
geographic origin, I'm inclined not to spend time searching foreign records
without being certain I'm searching in the right place. The only paper record
that would do us any good is the 1674 emigration record of Peter, explicity
stating he was headed for the New World, along with giving his origin. We don't
know when Peter was born, so even if we find, for example, a European baptismal
record for a Peter CARRICO, we've no way to be certain it's his.
Diana
Important Note:
The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like
to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond
on the board.
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CARRICO-request(a)rootsweb.com
with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of
the message
=