| ![Show Contents]() Gaitan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Etymology of GaitanWhat does the name Gaitan mean? A variety of distinguished and notable names have emerged from the beautiful and historical Italian region of Tuscany, including the notable surname Gaitan. During the Middle Ages, as populations grew and travel between regions became more frequent, the people of Tuscany, who were originally known only by a single name, found it necessary to adopt a second name to identify themselves and their families. This process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries, but it was not completed until the modern era. The development of Italian hereditary surnames followed general principles and were characterized by derivatives from one's given name. The patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, was one of the most common name types found in the region of Tuscany. This system of name-making was widely used because it linked well with the existing Feudal System and during the Christian era, many people named their children after saints and biblical figures. The surname Gaitan came from the medieval given name Gaetano, which was originally a name from Caieta in Latium. According to tradition, the town was named after the elderly nurse of Aeneas, who died after fleeing with him from the ruins of Troy. Early Origins of the Gaitan familyThe surname Gaitan was first found in Tuscany (Italian: Toscana), a region in central Italy. The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta which dates back to at least 1294, the year that Benedetto Caetani was elected to the papacy as Pope Boniface VIII. Early History of the Gaitan familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gaitan research. The years 1294, 1296, 1303, 1336, 1360, 1400, 1412, 1442, 1466, 1475, 1488, 1500, 1526, 1566, 1585, 1620 and 1624 are included under the topic Early Gaitan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Gaitan Spelling VariationsItalian surnames come in far more variations than the names of most other nationalities. Regional traditions and dialects are a decisive factor in this characteristic. For example, northern names tend to end in "o", while southern in "i". Also important, but not unique to Italy, was the fact that before dictionaries and the printing press most scribes simply spelled words according to their sounds. The predictable result was an enormous number of spelling variations. The recorded spellings of Gaitan include Gaeta, Gaita, De Gaita, Di Gaeta, Gaetani, Di Gaetano, Gaetano and many more. Early Notables of the Gaitan familyProminent among members of the family was Giovanni-Baldo Gaeta, a priest from Pisa who held the position in 1466, 1475, 1488. Also at this time, the Gaeta family of Naples was officially recognized as nobility in the city. An important individual of this lineage was Giovanni Gaetano, a navigator born in 1442. He went on an expedition from Mexico to the Philippines to which is attributed the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. Ottavio Gaetani (1566-1620), was an Italian Jesuit and historian and...
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gaitan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Gaitan RankingIn the United States, the name Gaitan is the 5,996th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1
| Gaitan migration to the United States | + |
In the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Gaitan were found:
Gaitan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Hernando Gaitan, who landed in America in 1812 2
Gaitan Settlers in United States in the 20th Century- Guillin Gaitan, aged 17, who landed in America, in 1922
- Jorge Gaitan, aged 71, who immigrated to the United States, in 1924
- Candido Gaitan, aged 24, who immigrated to America, in 1924
| Contemporary Notables of the name Gaitan (post 1700) | + |
- Fernando J. Gaitan Jr (b. 1948), United States federal judge
- Ricardo Sala Gaitan, Colombian industrial engineer and politician
- Héctor Luis Gaitan (b. 1987), Argentine football defender
- Paulina Gaitan (b. 1992), Mexican actress
- Fernando Gaitan (b. 1960), Colombian TV series and telenovelas screenwriter
- Walter Nicolás Gaitan (b. 1977), Argentine footballer
- Martín Gaitan (b. 1978), Argentine rugby union footballer
- Osvaldo Nicolás Fabián Gaitan (b. 1988), Argentine footballer
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
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