I have always wondered where my family came from. My family name didn't strike me as Spanish, so I was pretty sure one side of my family didn't spring from the Spaniards, neither were my native ancestors issued names by the colonizing missionaries. It didn't sound well, native enough, like Katigbak or Panganiban. But it does sound European, I just couldn't figure out which part of the continent we probably sprang from.
A few years ago, a cousin I haven't seen for a long time gave me a lecture on family history. She said our great, great grandparents said that an Italian guy travelled with the Spanish friars and eventually married and settled in Dauis, in Panglao, Bohol. I remained skeptical because I thought my last name didn't sound Italian enough. I tried searching the internet for Italians with similar last names as I did and found nothing. But surprisingly, in Singapore my Greek boss asked me if I had an Italian heritage. And so the Italian connection is probably correct. After all, Greeks live next door to Italy.
Except that further research in the internet reveals the Italian guy probably descended from the Slavs of Eastern Europe. I was so surprised when I found out that I shared last names with people called Ekaterina, Galina, Kamila and Irina, all based in Russia, the Czech Republic and Latvia. In Slavic script, it appears as Долотина. Kewl.
So there you are. One side of the family probably branched out from the Caucasus mountains, as some ventured out down far south and west to Italy while the rest remained in Russia and the Baltics, producing off-springs that came in contact with the exploring Iberians, the Spaniards. The Italian-- much like Columbus (another Italian) and Magellan (a Portuguese)-- served under the Spanish crown as an assistant to the proseltyzing Spanish friars, travelled to Mexico, and with the route taken by the Galleon trade in Acapulco set out for either Manila or Cebu before finally settling in Bohol.
The thing is, the name isn't widely used in either Spain or Italy, but more widespread in Slavic countries, especially in Russia, which means that only a small number probably ventured out southwest to Italy and Spain. People, I'm reconstructing the geographic movement of the genes here.
Yes you are absolutely correct. I am not doing anything productive right now.
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