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My great grandfather's name was Fransis(Frank)Musk. He is listed on the 1900 census as being from Italy as well as his parents. I can't find anything anywhere that supports this info. I don't know what his parents' names were. It is also listed that he was born in 1877 and immigrated to America in 1888. He married my great grandmother in 1892. She was from Ireland. Her maiden name was Catherine Parish. The older members of my family swear that no one in our family was Italian. They say that Musk is an Irish name and that is that. I don't know if this is what they truly believe or that they are denying the fact that we have Italian blood. Apparently, my great grandfather was not a nice person and my family has been extremely secretive over the years about family issues. I've searched for the name Musk on the behind the name website but it doesn't show up anywhere. I have tried different variations but have found nothing. I am waiting for the ancestry.com DNA test to come back to tell me whether or not I am part Italian. This is very important to me and would appreciate any help that I can get. My goal is to prove whether or not my great grandfather was Italian. Thank you so much!
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The census record at tinyurl.com/q8ywll9 actually says he was from Itila which makes no sense. Someone name Fransis Musk can't possibly be Italian unless he changed his name from Francesco Mosca or something like that. Also, Musk is an English name which is not found in Ireland. The record at tinyurl.com/oh5k677 does say that his wife was from Ireland but the name Parish is not found there as per tinyurl.com/ye6ojhz.
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Thanks for your response. You can see my confusion!! I'm beginning to think that his real surname was Musconi. And, crazy as it may seem, I'm also beginning to think that his first name was Emilia. This is apparently a masculine name in Italy. I tried to see if Emilia and Frank could mean the same but had no luck. What's odd is that he and my great grandmother had a daughter named 'Amelia'. What do you think?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Emilia is a female name. The masculine form is Emilio and there's no semantic connection whatsoever between this and Frank. On the other hand, an americanization of Mosconi to Musk is highly plausible.
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I also was confused about the Emilia name. It was listed as being masculine in the records that I saw.
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There is also an italian surname MUSCO. It could be possible as well. This surname is spread in Italy... So "c" has become "k" and "o" desappeared.
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I thought of Musco right away as being a possibility. In the Behind the Name site, there is no Musco or anything close to it listed in the Italian names. Do you know of any other sites I could use to help me?
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Since posting this last year, I have discovered that I am part Italian and that the "Musk" connection has to be where it comes from. My other ancestors are well documented. I have also found that my great grandmother's maiden name was probably not Parish but have no idea what it is. Also, it was discovered that Frank Musk was not Catherine's first husband. Solomon Musk was. Apparently, when he died, Frank, an assumed relative, married Catherine. I haven't found out anything about these ancestors since last year. I'm very frustrated!!
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