battesimo

Battesimo is the sacrament of baptism, and parish registers of baptisms are the main birth source for Italy before civil registration. The verb is battezzare, to baptize, and fu battezzato means was baptized. The baptismal name is the nome di battesimo.

In much of central and northern Italy, civil registers were kept only for a short time under Napoleon, so parish baptisms are often the only record for the years before about 1866. A baptism entry usually names the parents and the godparents (padrini).