Friday, April 23, 2010

In the movie The Departed, Frank Castillo is apparently Irish, yet the name "Castillo" doesn't seem Irish..

is there any logic or explanation behind it?

In the movie The Departed, Frank Castillo is apparently Irish, yet the name "Castillo" doesn't seem Irish..
I found this information on www.ancestry.com,


Castillo


Spanish: from castillo 鈥榗astle鈥? 鈥榝ortified building鈥?(Latin castellum), a habitational name from any of numerous places so named or named with this word.


hope this helps.
Reply:two considerations-


People place way more emphasis on surnames than they should, in technical genealogy. To illustrate.. Frank (or any of us) have 16 gr gr grandparents, each of whom have different surnames (and heritage). It is easily possible that the one out of the 16 was a Spaniard of the name Castillo, who came to Ireland, and married there. Each of the remaining 15 may be completely Irish, even never have left the country. The same might be said for all Frank's other ancestors.. parents, grandparents, gr grandparents. The only one who happens to be a Castillo is in the paternal line and the name comes down from him. In fact, even he could be part Irish, if HIS mother went from Ireland to Spain to study and married there.


The 2nd part is much simpler. You are dealing with a film and script, and writers don't always have to do what is logical or even factual. Artistic license.


Keep smiling.


edit-


thanks, Shirl. I did not see the movie, so I went with the conclusion that the name was as spelled in the question.


Actually, another standard thing in genealogy that it isn't always what we think it says it is.
Reply:It's Costello, not Castillo. Costello is an Irish name.
Reply:Maybe it's Costello.
Reply:Costello is frequently Irish, but it is pronounced Costilow in Ireland. Sometimes theyspell it Costilow and sometimes Costello. There was a prime minister of the Irish Free State named Costello. In the movie The Sting,the main character portrayed Frank Costello, the gambler of Italian descent(even though they didn't use his name) and he was portrayed as Irish. It was just a lot of fun. Actually in Italian Frank Costello's name wasn't exactly Costello.





The name is common around Mayo, I understand. In the movie, someone stated,


"he is the strangest Irishman you'll ever meet. He doesn't drink; he doesn't smoke; he doesn't chase women, but he gambles."


I saw the movie with some nuns, two from Ireland. One from Mayo told family back in Ireland about it and a Costilow there said, "I'm glad he did something right."





Castillo would be Spanish, but it would be pronounced more like Cas teel yo, using a short a in the Cas.


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