Boniface

This is the Italian version of the English and French surname "Boniface". Correctly, the name means "good-destiny", but folk law changed this in the early Christian times to "doer of good deeds", and it was with this meaning in mind that the name was taken by St. Boniface (675 - 754 A.D.), and later by no less than nine popes. Research clearly indicates that the name in all its many forms, has always been more popular in Italy than anywhere else, and there are estimated to be at least fifty variant surname spellings, ranging from Bonifacio and Bonifazio, to Bonafacino and Fazzioli, the "boni" having been lost completely. In Italy as well the name is taken to be a good omen, and as such was bestowed indiscriminately, even as a surname. Not surprisingly, this makes genealogy extremely complex; recordings of the surname include: Leonardo Bonifacio (also recorded as Bonifazio), who was a christening witness at San Severo, Foggia, Italia, on December 6th 1830. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Francesca Bonifacio, which was dated October 20th 1757, marriage to Mariano Manzone, at Montallegro, Agrigento, Italy, during the reign of Pope Benedict X1V, 1740 - 1758. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.