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Are most of the Italian-Americans in California of Northern Italian descent?
I've heard this to be the case, and that many Tuscans, Venetians, Genoese and others were attracted to the wine-growing regions of Northern California as well as to the San Francisco Bay Area. Also, most of the Italian-Americans I've met from this area tended to have a more Central European or "Alpine" look if you will, rather than a more stereotypical Mediterranean look associated with Sicilians or people from Italy's far south.
@Chiara: Hello there. Yes I know it's largely false, hence I said "stereotypical," however it still holds true to an extent. Sicilians are often Mediterranean-looking for instance (meaning dark-haired, with olive-ish skin, etc.).
I'm 1/2 Sicilian in ancestry btw (and an additional 1/8 Tuscan from Florence). I've traveled to both places and while I certainly agree that the differences are exaggerated and that overlap is pretty frequent, I will also say that there were certain physical types in each place which would look decidedly out of place in the other (mainly certain physical types in Sicily that wouldn't fit too well in Tuscany however).
@Sicilian Princess: That's cool, I also have relatives on my Sicilian side in northern California but based on what I've read and people I've seen, I was under the impression that the northern Italian influence was also quite evident.
@Degrassi lover: Yes I'd agree, that's a fair assumption, especially considering that Lebanese are traditionally the lightest Arabs and that many themselves also descend from Greco-Roman ancestors, hence they'd therefore share the same ancestry as Sicilians or Greeks. Northern Italians on the other hand have a heavy Celtic/Gallic genetic contribution as well as a Germanic contribution from Lombards, Goths, and other tribes, hence a strong physical resemblance to the French and to Central Europeans.
3 Answers
- Anonymous8 years agoFavorite Answer
I don't know. However for some reason people think all southerners are dark. They aren't. I'm from southern Italy and I'm very very white with green eyes and golden hair.
- Anonymous8 years ago
Most of the Sicilians here have East Mediterranean facial features and can be mistaken for the Lebanese in my town. Most of the northern Italians I have met, on the other hand, look closer to Central Europeans. It's likely you are seeing northern Italians in California.
- 5 years ago
Actually, a lot of very light central European, Germanic tribes sailed down to southern Italy and Sicily and tried to conquer and they lent their genes to the mix of people. That's why Sicilians or Napolitans, for instance, can range from pretty dark complected and exotically "Mediterranean", almost Arab in complexion and coloring, fairly light and "white", like the famous Sicilian-Americans Frank Sinatra and Steve Buscemi.
