The governments of the various Italian city-states eventually grew frustrated by their citizens' constantly shifting last names—without standardization, it was difficult to levy taxes or enforce military registration requirements. Beginning in Galileo's lifetime, therefore, laws swept through Italy requiring parents to record both first and last names for their children. If a family had a traditional surname, they usually used that. If not, they resorted to town of origin or occupation, and then these names were passed down through the generations. [...] Italians also had to record their names upon marriage and death with either church or state authorities, depending on the area. Italy was a bit of a latecomer in this regard. Many nearby countries, like France and Germany, had systematized surnames generations earlier.
If you want or need more than that, Palmer cites/thanks the following scholars: “Valeria Finucci of Duke University, Meredith Gill of the University of Maryland, and Owen Gingerich of Harvard University.”
I plan to use this snippet on Friday when we discuss the “system of permanent registration” developed in response to the plague (opening pages of the “Panopticism” chapter of Discipline & Punish).
