Cerasuolo

Means "cherry-colored." Appears as a word in many Italian dictionaries, but may have origins in the Greek period of Naples, where it seems to have originated. There are at least two villages found with the name, the most notable being near Monte Cassino, where many Japanese-American soldiers won Medals of Honor or other awards for heroism during WW II. In addition, there is Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a regional Sicilian wine made from where my ancestors came, and one or two others made on the Italian peninsula, of which one is a rosé, and the other is a white. A notable variant is the Swiss name Ceresole, which is the last name of two early benefactors of the rock band Sonic Youth, of which I am a fan--quite a strange thing to have discovered when the name and its variants are so rare.