Antica ed illustre famiglia, che godette di nobiltà in Nicosia in Messina, in Palermo, in Siracusa. Nel 1398 un Giovanni tenne la carica di vice-castellano di Nicosia; un Gabriele fu giudice della gran corte del regno (1683-1689-1699), avvocato fiscale del tribunale del R. Patrimonio (1706); un Niccolò ottenne a 7 ottobre 1702 il titolo di barone di Cancilleri; un Diego fu capitano di giustizia di Siracusa nel 1704-5 e 1709-10; un Antonino a 9 maggio 1746 ebbe investitura della baronia di Aira del Conte ed Oliveto e fu pro-conservatore di Buccheri (1755-1758-1774), carica tenuta nel 1776 dal figlio di lui barone Giuseppe, il quale acquistò il marcato di Melilli e ne fu investito a 19 marzo 1776; un Carlo fu giudice pretoriale di Palermo (1746-47), avvocato fiscale della regia udienza generale, pro-uditore generale degli eserciti, un Niccolò fu senatore di Palermo nel 1746-47-48; un Antonino Francesco di Paola e Baldanza fu l’ultimo investito (6 agosto 1781) del marcato di Melilli e oggi sono iscritti, con il titolo di nobile dei signori del marcato di Melilli, nell’Elenco ufficiale nobiliare il signor Felice, di Giuseppe, di Francesco e i figli: Marianna, Andrea, Francesca, Antonino, Lucia, Giuseppa e Clelia.. Riguardo a questo cognome abbiamo ritrovato ulteriori informazioni storiche in altri archivi. Purtroppo in lingua originale Inglese. : The Last Name of CATALANO is a Spanish regional name for someone from CATALONIA (Spanish CATALUNA) which was so called from a pre-Roman tribal name, which is of unknown origin and meaning. The name is also spelt CATALA, CATALAO, CATHALAN, KATALAN, KATALONI, CATALANOTTI, CATALINE and CATILINA. In the 8th century, Spain fell under the control of the Moors, and this influence, which lasted into the 12th century, has also left its mark on Hispanic last names. A few names are based directly on Arabic personal names. The majority of Spanish occupational and nickname last names, however, are based on ordinary Spanish derivatives. In Spain identifying patronymics are to be found as early as the mid-9th century, but these modified with each generation, and hereditary last names seem to have come in slightly later in Spain than in England and France. As well as the names of the traditional major saints of the Christian Church, many of the most common Spanish last names are extrapolated from personal names of Germanic origin. For the most part these names are characteristically Hispanic. They derive from the language of the Visigoths, who controlled Spain between the mid-5th and early 8th centuries. Lucius Sergius CATILINA (108-62 BC) was the Roman conspirator, born of an impoverished family, He was elected praetor in 68, and the next year governor of Africa, but was disqualified from the consulship in 66 on charges of maladministration. Disappointed and crippled by debt, he entered into a conspiracy with other Roman nobles. After a desperate battle he was defeated and slain. It was not until the 10th century that modern hereditary last names first developed, and the use of stable names spread, first to France, and then England, then to Germany and all of Europe. In these parts of Europe, the individual man was becoming more important, commerce was increasing and the exact identification of each man was becoming a necessity. Even today however, the Church does not recognise last names. Baptisms and marriages are performed through use of the Christian name alone. Thus hereditary names as we know them today developed little by little during the 11th to the 15th century in the various European states….
Noble title: Conti
Coat of arms: D’azzurro alla colonna d’argento, sormontata da una stella a 8 raggi dello stesso e sostenuta da 2 leoni coronati d’oro, controrampanti affrontat…