Sicily Genealogy Research

Sicily sent more immigrants to America than any other single region of Italy. Between 1880 and 1920, hundreds of thousands of Sicilians left the island for cities like New York, New Orleans, Chicago, and Tampa — driven by poverty, natural disasters, and the crushing economic conditions of the Mezzogiorno. If your family came from Sicily, we can trace their roots back to the exact comune where they were born, married, and raised their children before crossing the Atlantic.

Why Sicilians Emigrated

Sicily's mass emigration was fueled by a combination of forces that made life on the island increasingly untenable for its peasant farming class. After Italian unification in 1860, the new government in the north imposed heavy taxes on wheat and salt — staples for southern farmers and fishermen. In the 1880s, disease ravaged both staple and cash crops, while malaria and other epidemics devastated rural communities. Land ownership was concentrated among a small aristocratic class, leaving most Sicilians as tenant farmers or day laborers with little hope of economic advancement.

The promise of wages in America — often three times what the same work paid in Sicily — drew young men by the thousands. Many came as "birds of passage," intending to earn money and return home. But over time, chain migration took hold: a man from Catania or Mellili or Siracusa would establish himself in an American city, then send for his brothers, his wife, and eventually his entire extended family. Entire Sicilian villages were effectively transplanted to American neighborhoods — the same families who lived on the same street in Sicily ended up living on the same block in New York or New Haven.

Where Sicilian Immigrants Settled in America

• New York City: Mulberry Street and the Lower East Side were home to massive Sicilian communities, particularly from Palermo and the western provinces
• New Orleans & Louisiana: One of the earliest Sicilian destinations — Sicilians worked on sugar cane plantations and in the French Quarter's markets
• Connecticut: New Haven (especially Wooster Square), Waterbury, and Bridgeport drew heavily from Catania, Mellili, and Siracusa
• New Jersey: Newark, Trenton, and Paterson had concentrated Sicilian neighborhoods
• Chicago: The Near West Side hosted a thriving Sicilian community
• Tampa, Florida: Ybor City became a center of Sicilian cigar workers
• Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the coal regions attracted Sicilian laborers

Sicilian Records We Research

Sicily has some of the best genealogical records in the world. Civil registration began on the island in 1820 — earlier than most of Italy and decades before England, Scotland, or Ireland. These records are remarkably detailed and, when combined with church records that often reach back to the 1600s, make it possible to trace Sicilian families across many generations.

• Civil Records (Stato Civile, from 1820): Birth certificates (atti di nascita), marriage records (atti di matrimonio), and death records (atti di morte) — Sicily's civil records are among the earliest and most detailed in Italy
• Processetti Matrimoniali: Marriage dossier documents attached to Sicilian marriage records, which often include baptismal certificates, parents' information, and supporting documents that can extend a lineage well into the 1700s
• Church Records (Registri Ecclesiastici): Baptism, marriage, and burial records from parish churches — many dating to the 1500s and 1600s, essential for research before 1820
• Military Draft Records (Liste di Leva): Conscription lists that document Sicilian men and can include physical descriptions, occupations, and family details
• Antenati Portal Records: We navigate the Italian government's digitized archives to access scanned civil records from all nine Sicilian provinces
• US Immigration & Naturalization Records: Ship manifests, Ellis Island records, and naturalization papers documenting your family's arrival from Sicily
• Italian Dual Citizenship Documents: Certified copies of vital records from Sicilian municipal offices, prepared for jure sanguinis applications

The Nine Provinces of Sicily

We conduct research across all nine provinces of Sicily. Each province has its own state archive (Archivio di Stato) and its own set of municipal records. The provinces are:

• Palermo: The capital and most populous province — major source of emigration to New York and New Orleans
• Catania: Eastern Sicily — heavily represented among Connecticut immigrants (New Haven, Waterbury)
• Messina: Northeastern tip of the island — the 1908 earthquake accelerated emigration from this province
• Siracusa: Southeastern coast — strong connections to Connecticut and New York communities
• Agrigento: Southern coast — significant emigration to New York and New Jersey
• Trapani: Western Sicily — emigration to Louisiana, California, and the northeastern US
• Ragusa: Southeastern interior — smaller but well-documented emigration patterns
• Caltanissetta & Enna: Central Sicily — mining communities with ties to Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal regions

Start Tracing Your Sicilian Roots

Whether your family came from the streets of Palermo, the hillside villages of Agrigento, or the fishing ports of Messina — their story is written in the records of Sicily's municipal archives. Let us help you read it.