Hello and welcome - it's always nice to meet a new customer.
I'm afraid I may disappoint you or your father here, but Albino, near
Bergamo in Italy, did not get "its name because the settlers were
Albino...as in the lack of pigmentation."
Albino can be traced back to the Celtic placename "Albė", which means
village in the valley among the mountains. This information (in
Italian) is on the "Commune di Albino" website about the town at:
http://www.orobicnet.com/albino/
They refer to a book on the placenames of the Albino area:
"La Toponomastica di Albino", by Professor Mario da Sovere
In the ninth century, the name was also written Albines or Albine,
according to this website on the Seriana valley:
http://www.valleseriana.bg.it/cenni_storici.htm
Professor da Sovere and the town's own website seem to be good
authorities for the origins of Albino's name. (More on da Sovere
below.) However, there is another theory about Albino when used as a
first or last name, which might explain how the idea of the original
inhabitants having albino non-pigmentation arose.
No-one suggests a link with true albinos but there is a connection
with a fair complexion and blond hair. 'Albus' in Latin can mean both
white and light-skinned.
There are several Italian websites including this theory as a possible
explanation for the name Albino, like this one:
http://www.melegnano.net/cognomi/cognomi0001l.htm
Here they suggest that the surname Albino comes either from the
placename Albino or from the Latin name Albinus which, they say,
refers to someone with a pale complexion or fair hair.
So, there may be room for debate about the origin of the name, at
least until we read the professor's book, but the possibilities do not
include albino settlers in the area.
I hope this helps and that you are not too surprised or disappointed
by the answer!
Please feel free to get back to me via a clarification request if
anything needs explanation, or if any links fail to work, and I will
do my best to help.
Leli
I made these notes on Professor da Sovere to check he was a reputable
authority:
This webpage cites Prof. da Sovere's work and explains that a majority
of place names in the Bergamo area have non-Latin origins.
http://www.orobicnet.com/documenti/mulattiera_corpo.htm
Da Sovere has published other works on that part of Italy, including
other works on placenames, between 1975 and 1999:
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22da+sovere%22+mario&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N
Search strategy:
Various searches which didn't help much and also:
albino bergamo seriana toponomastica
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=albino+bergamo+seriana+toponomastica&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
albino albinus nomi
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=albino+albinus+nomi&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
latin dictionary white light-skinned
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=latin+dictionary+albus++light-skinned+&btnG=Google+Search&meta= |