"BUT... I DON'T SPEAK FRENCH, CORSE, ITALIAN OR LATIN!!"

You're going to let something like that get in your way? Then you'd best give up now, as unfortunately: 1) not all the world speaks English, 2) the French think all the world should speak French, and, 3) very few speak English in Corsica. Fortunately for you, you're alive and kicking in a time when language translation software/shareware is at your fingertips. Some good ones that are downloadable right now are:

Babylon Translator, Dictionary and Converter
http://www.babylon.com/

BELOW ARE FOR WINDOWS USER'S ONLY** (All versions: NT, 3.1,'95,'98, 2000)

THESE LINKS TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO THEIR 30-DAY TRIAL DOWNLOADS AT NO CHARGE:

FOR TRANSLATING NEWLY FOUND COUSIN GHJUVAN'S E-MAIL:
CNET.com - Downloads - PC Word Translator Windows (English to French & vice-versa)
ftp://ftp.tranexp.com/pub/wtfreeng.exe

FOR HELP MANEUVERING THE ITALIAN ELENCO TELEFONICO (:
CNET.com - Downloads - PC Word Translator Windows (English to Italian & vice-versa)
ftp://ftp.tranexp.com/pub/wtitaeng.exe

FOR THOSE WHO MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE ARCHIVES IN GENOA:
CNET.com - Downloads - PC Word Translator Windows (English to Latin & vice-versa)
ftp://ftp.tranexp.com/pub/wtltteng.exe

**(MAC users go to: CNET.com for non-PC options)

OUTSMARTING THE TRANSLATORS

Most translation software, though good, has a tendency to be a bit too literal. Upon receiving your first draft in the mail, your Corse cousin will no doubt be on the floor in fits of laughter as he reads what translates to him as:

Dear Antoine,
I am Bubba Simons of in Akron, Ohio. I hope this is not that a boredom for you, but we tried to calculate if we have parents again in Corsica. My big, big, big, the name of great-grandfather was Anthony Simeoni. He it was born 1821 of them in the region around the Mantle around somewhere. He and his wife had a lot of children, yet I know names of only 3 of them lone. They were John, Matthew and Peter. Peter left of Corsica in 1846 and paid into a state of Louisiana. He married a girl American, and they had 5 children of its own. Matthew and Peter remained buttocks in Corsica. I found your name written down in pages white Corsica, and I hope that you can take down the other brothers, John or Matthew...

instead of what should have read to him as:

Dear Antoine,
I'm Bubba SIMONS from in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. I hope this isn't a bother to you, but we've been trying to figure out if we still have relatives in Corsica. My great, great, great, great-grandfather's name was Anthony Simeoni. He was born around 1821 somewhere in the area around the Cape. He and his wife had many children, though I know the names of only 3 of them. They were John, Matthew and Peter. Peter left Corsica in 1846 and settled in the state of Louisiana. He married an American girl, and they had 5 children of his own. Matthew and Peter remained behind in Corsica. I found your name listed in the Corsican white pages, and I'm hoping that you might be a descendant of one of the remaining brothers, John or Matthew...

It's relatively easy to avoid giving a rough first-impression to your prospective kin. First, keep your sentences short and to the point. Avoid slang terms or being overly descriptive. Use the "formal" versus "familiar" tense option, and try to avoid euphemisms. Once you've written your letter in English and your software has translated the text into French, "cut and paste" the French translation from this project onto a new French to English project page. Then translate that, and see how your French translation reads back to you in English. Use the software's dictionary or "search" option for finding suitable variants and inflections, then go back and forth between the two projects until your translation is all cleaned up and comprehendible. Though your final product may be less than perfect, it'll be very good, and your cousin will respect your attempt and probably write back to you. And though he might even attempt to reply to your other letter, it wouldn't be without numerous breaks he'd need to take for wiping the tears of laughter from his face.

Another thing to remember: Though your great, great, great, grandfather's sons may have been referred to over here as "John, Matthew and Peter", there's not a chance in the galaxy that these were their actual given-names over there at the time, leading Antoine to think your letter's destination should have been Corsica, Pennsylvania instead his beloved Mediterranean isle. So offer alternatives like the following when referring to your ancestors' Anglified or otherwise non-Corse given names: John (Ghjuvan ou Jean ou Giovanni?) SIMONS (SIMEONI)


CORSE SURNAMES - VARIANTS, RESOURCES AND THEIR ORIGINS

The majority of Corse surnames originated in and around Genoa, Pisa, Livorno and Lucca in what is now known as Italy. By seeing where your surname is currently to be found in Italy, and by noting the area or areas with the highest concentrations of the name, you can perhaps locate the area of it's probable origins, too. Be sure to search for practical variations in spellings (e.g., Francheschi, Franceshini, etc.), too, as your surname may have been altered by your ancestors when they were in Corsica. A great search engine for the aforementioned:

http://www.labo.net

If your surname is found, Labo.net will indicate so with a very basic map of Italy and circles of varying sizes (for varying concentrations of surnames found) over the various locations where the surname is found. At this point (unless you're a wiz at Italian vague-map reading...), you may need an actual map to help you pinpoint which town or region labo.net's icons are indicating.
If you find large concentrations are to be found in more that one area or covering more than one town, you can do several things. Check the Italian white pages for your surname in those specific provinces. One good source is:

http://www.virgilio.it (then click on the ELENCO or ()

This will show you in which towns within that specific region your surname is found. You may also try looking up other Corse surnames within this same Italian town (Commune) or Province (Provincia) to see if others with also-Corse surnames from this area may have emigrated, too. Check that town or region's history to see if it was within one of the regions that ruled Corsica, or if you can find statistic of persons having emigrated to Corsica. Check Corsica's history for emigration or rule from that town or region.

FINDING PROBABLE COUSINS THAT ARE IN CORSICA TODAY:

One of the best resources is the ANNUAIRE U Corsu (Corsica's "White Pages").
Their search engine is remarkable. You can enter partial names or prefixes, you can even search for given names without surnames, and it will give you everything on the island that's listed with that particular feature:

http://www.annuaire-corse.com/Index/Recherch.html

If you can't find your surname, look for practical variations in spellings. Be creative! Drop a vowel, change a vowel, try varying your suffixes, e.g., -oni, ini, acci, etc. Find a soundex converter, then try some variants. So many surnames may have been Anglified, Franchified or Hispanicized (e.g., Dias becomes Diaz) for whatever reason, or just inadvertently misspelled over here, that their counterpart over there may be just an iota off from the current spelling (e.g., Manuelli FOR Emanuelli, Demarke FOR Domarchi, or Dumarchi, OR Guidici FOR Guidicelli, etc.). Once you find some close listings, check the given names to see if there are constants or patterns within your ancestor's given names and these that you find listed. (Remember, children were commonly named after the paternal, then maternal grandparents, thus perpetuating many names for many generations. Often, too, different branches of families would differentiate themselves from the others by changing the suffixes in their surnames, since so many shared the same given names!) Don't forget to note the towns where the majority of people with your surname are found, as this may give you a clue as to your ancestral village and where records might be found.

A word to the wise: Don't expect to just show up on some Corsican's doorstep and expect them to take you in as their long-lost American cousin "Bubba" from Akron. (Put yourself in their shoes...!) Though there is a possibility that you'll receive a warm welcome from this someone that you assume is your cousin, more often than not it could backfire, too, and you could scare-off your lone remaining relative on the island. Use your manners. Send a thoughtful letter of inquiry so you can be certain they're who you think they are. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with international postage (you can get this at the post office) to encourage a response. Do this long before you plan to visit, as response times can be a bit slow.

OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR:

Some phonetically seeming "Italian" surnames are spelled differently in Corse, as the letter "i" is often represented by a "j". Examples:

Ghjiulia for Giulia (Italian) or Julia (French or English)
OR
Antonj for Antoni (Italian or English) or Antony (French or English)


SOME CORSE SURNAMES AND THEIR ORIGINS courtesy of:
Click here: FranceGenWeb - France
http://nomine.francegenweb.org/

Nom:
Agostini Origine:
Nom corse ou italien. Diminutif d'Agosti (Agosto) qui correspond au nom Auguste.
Nom:
Aicard, Aicardi Origine:
Voir Aycard. La forme Aicardi est très présente en Corse et dans les Bouches-du-Rhône.
Nom:
Airoldi Origine:
Nom rencontré en Corse (variante Airauldi dans les Alpes-Maritimes). Pour le sens, voir Airaudo.
Nom:
Albertini Origine:
Nom corse ou italien. Diminutif de Alberto = Albert (voir Aubert).
Nom:
Ambroise Origine:
Nom de baptême popularisé par saint Ambroise, l'un des quatre grands docteurs de l'Eglise. Vient du grec ambrosios (= immortel), latinisé en Ambrosius. Le nom est fréquent en Corse sous la forme Ambrosi. Il figure dans de nombreux noms composés, par exemple Ambroise-Casterot (33). On rencontre la forme latinisée Ambrosius dans le Nord.
Antoni-Nom:
Antoine, Anton Origine:
Nom de baptême d'origine latine, Antonius (= inestimable, sans prix ?).
Nom:
Bartoli Origine:
Forme corse ou italienne du nom de baptême Barthélémy (voir ce nom).
Nom:
Biagioni, Biaggioni Origine:
Dérivé (éventuellement augmentatif) du nom de baptême Biagio (Biaggio), qui est l'équivalent du français Blaise.
Nom:
Casamajou Origine:
Nom rencontré à la fois dans les Pyrénées-Atlantiques et dans l'Aveyron. Il signifie la maison principale, et donc celui qui y habitait. Variantes : Casamaggiore (Corse et Italie), Casamajor, Casamayor, Casamayou, ces trois derniers noms semblant tous originaires des Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Nom:
Cassan Origine:
Nom très répandu dans le Sud-Ouest (46, 82). Désigne celui qui est originaire d'une localité portant ce nom. Sens du toponyme : chêne, lieu où pousse le chêne (du gaulois *cassanos). On trouve en Italie et en Corse la variante Cassano, qui serait à l'origine du nom noble de Cassan. Autres variantes : Cassain, Cassaing, Cassang, toutes dans le Sud-Ouest.
Nom:
Cianferani Origine:
Nom corse sur lequel je n'ai absolument aucune idée. Si vous pouvez m'aider, n'hésitez pas.
Nom:
Colombani Origine:
Diminutif du nom de baptême Colombo (de sens mystique, le nom symbolise à la fois la pureté et le Saint Esprit). Le nom Colombani, fréquent en Corse et en Lombardie, peut éventuellement faire référence à saint Colomban qui, venu d'Irlande, fonda l'abbaye de Bobbio.
Nom:
Colonna Origine:
Nom corse qui signifie colonne, pilier. Sans doute un toponyme, mais peut aussi désigner un aspect de la maison.
Nom:
Emmanuel Origine:
Un nom de personne biblique (`imm-anû 'El = Dieu est avec nous), que l'on trouve employé comme patronyme surtout dans les départements d'Outre-Mer. En métropole, c'est la forme Manuel qui est plus fréquente. On trouve aussi en Corse la variante Emmanuelli. Emmanuel est le nom donné au Messie dans le livre prophétique d'Isaïe.
Nom:
Fabiani Origine:
Nom porté en Corse et en Italie. C'est un nom de personne, diminutif de Fabio, qui correspond au français Fabien. Le nom a été popularisé par un pape (le vingtième de la chrétienté) martyrisé au IIIe siècle. Etymologie : le latin faba = fève.
Nom:
Ferdinandi Origine:
Forme corse de Ferdinand, nom de personne d'origine germanique. Le nom Ferdinand s'est formé par métathèse du r de Fredinand, Fridunand (frid = paix + nand = hardi).
Nom:
Giudicelli Origine:
Diminutif corse formé sur Giudice, qui semble correspondre à la fonction de juge. Cependant il existe une autre hypothèse : Giudice serait une italianisation du nom hébreu Dayan (= juge, au sens biblique du terme).
Nom:
Luciani Origine:
Forme corse ou italienne de Lucien (voir ce nom).
Nom:
Maestrati Origine:
Nom corse qui est un diminutif de Maestri, ce dernier nom correspondant à maestro, l'équivalent du français maître. Pour le sens, voir Mestres. *also Maestracci
Nom:
Maffi Origine:
Nom italien. Variante de Matteo, Mattei (= Matthieu), portée surtout en Vénétie et en Lombardie.
Marcuzzi Origine:
Nom italien, l'un des nombreux diminutifs du nom de baptême Marco (= Marc), qui est également à l'origine du patronyme Marchi (le i final marque la filiation). Autres diminutifs très courants : Marchetti, Marcucci, Marcolini
Nom:
Mariani Origine:
Nom corse ou italien, variante avec i final de Mariano. On le considère soit comme un diminutif du prénom Mario, soit comme un nom lié au culte de la Vierge.
Nom:
Mattei Origine:
Forme corse de Matthieu (voir Mathieu). *also commonly found in Italy
Nom:
Maurandi Origine:
Nom rencontré dans les Alpes-Maritimes, en Corse et en Italie. L'un des nombreux dérivés du latin Maurus, surnom désignant un homme bronzé comme un maure. Correspond au français Maurand, Morand. *also Morandi
Nom:
Miniconi Origine:
Diminutif de Menico, lui-même hypocoristique par aphérèse de Domenico (= Dominique). Nom porté en Corse et en Italie.
Nom:
Nicolai Origine:
Variante corse (entre autres) de Nicolas (voir Nicolau).
Nom:
Olmeta Origine:
Nom corse désignant un bois d'ormes. *also Olmeto
Nom:
Orsini Origine:
Corse ou italien, le nom est un diminutif de Orso, nom de personne d'origine latine (Ursus < ursus = ours). Même si quelques saints ont porté ce nom, il semble que Orso se soit surtout développé en Italie du nord grâce à l'idée de force symbolisée par l'ours. *also Orsoni
Nom:
Pietri Origine:
Forme corse ou italienne du nom de baptême Pierre. *also, Pieri
Nom:
Poli Origine:
Variante corse de l'italien Paoli, lui-même formé sur Paolo (= Paul).
Nom:
Rocca Origine:
Variante italienne ou corse de Roca (= fortification bâtie sur une éminence rocheuse). A partir de ce nom, on a formé le corse Rocca-Serra, avec le toponyme Serra qui a le sens de plateau abrupt ou ligne de crêtes. *for look-ups, try Della Rocca
Nom:
Rossi Origine:
Forme avec pluriel de filiation de Rosso, surnom italien ou corse désignant celui qui a les cheveux roux.
Nom:
Nom:
Santoni Origine:
Nom corse. C'est un diminutif du nom de baptême Santo, qui pourrait lui-même être une abréviation de Ognissanti (= Toussaint). *also, Santini
Solari Origine:
Nom italien ou corse à rapprocher du languedocien et catalan Soler, Solère. Désigne soit un lieu exposé au soleil (latin solarium), soit une demeure pourvue d'un étage (< latin solum). La présence du a me fait préférer la première solution.

*my comments

There are many Italian surname search sites with many, many more surnames from which you can do your research.

THEY CALL IT DOM-TOM (What the hey?)

Many Corsi emigrated first to the Caribbean, then to the United States. Some sources:

FranceGenWeb-Guadeloupe ,Martinique et Guyane Française
http://user.mc.net/~orphans1/fgw/dom-tom/caraibe/