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Costello (surname)

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Costello
Pronunciation/kəˈstɛloʊ/ or (especially in Ireland) /ˈkɒstəloʊ/
Italian: [kosˈtɛllo]
Language(s)English and Italian
Origin
Language(s)Irish and Latin
Word/nameMac Oisdealbhaigh and Castellum
Meaning"son of Oisdealbhach (Os-shaped, shaped like the god Os or shaped like god cf. os)" and "small Roman detached fort or fortlet used as a watch tower or signal station"
Other names
Cognate(s)Mac Oisdealbh, Mac Goisdelbh, Mac Coisdealbhaigh
See alsoMac Coisteala and Castrum

Costello is an Irish and Italian surname. There is no credible evidence that the Costello surname of Ireland is connected to the Spanish surname, Castillo or that the Costello family originated with shipwrecked Spanish sailors during the failed Spanish Armada invasion of the British Isles.

The surname has been borne by a notable Irish family who claimed descent from Hostilo (or Hostilio) d'Angulo, an Anglo-Norman knight. Hostilio d'Angulo occompanied his father, Gilbert d'Angulo and brother Jocelyn d'Angulo to Ireland in 1172 under the leadership of the Earl of Pembroke Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow. The invasion was of course ultimately under the command of Anglo-Norman king, Henry ll. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Norman_invasion_of_Ireland

Pope Adrian IV, the first English pope, in one of his earliest acts, had already issued a Papal Bull in 1155, giving Henry authority to invade Ireland to bring the Irish Church into conformity with Roman practice.

It is reported that the surname d'Angulo derives from Angle, Pembrokeshire where the d'Angulo's resided prior to the invasion.

The family first appears on record in Ireland in 1193, when the Annals of the Four Masters state: Inis Clothrann do orgain la macaibh Oisdealb, & la macaibh Conchobhair Maonmaighe. (Inishcloghbran was plundered by the sons of Osdealv, and the sons of Conor Moinmoy.)[1]

Oistealb or Osdealv was the Gaelic rendering of Hostilo.The Irish name Oisdealbh is sometimes erroneously attributed to a Gaelic translation of Jocelyn, Jocelyn d'Angulo's given name. In fact, MacOisdealbhaigh is the Gaelic translation of his brother Hostilo (or Hostilio) d'Angulo's first name. Oisdealbh is a much more obvious translation of Hostilo. It is Hostilo's descendants who would bear the surname Mac Oisdealbhaigh (son of Oisdealbh or Hostilo). The surname would later be anglicized to Costello, Costelloe, and Costellow. Gilbert d'Angulo is also sometimes listed as the son of Jocelyn d'Angulo in error. Gilbert d'Angulo is the father of both Jocelyn and Hostilo.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Norman_invasion_of_Ireland

In Italy, the name originated in the Campania region and in Sicily but is now more prevalent in the northern regions of Italy. Its origins as a surname are from the medieval Latin name "Costellus". It is related to Costa, a more common Italian surname, as its diminutive. http://www.ganino.com/cognomi_italiani_c

In Italian heraldry the title originated with the appointment of Michele (Costello) as the Consul of Belluno in northeastern Italy in 1378.[2]

It occasionally has been adopted as a pseudonym or stage name by famous people of Italian descent, including Al Costello (né Giacomo Costa), Frank Costello (né Francesco Castiglia), and Lou Costello (né Louis Francis Cristillo).

People born with the surname

People adopting the surname as a pseudonym

  • Al Costello, the ring name of Italian-Australian professional wrestler Giacomo Costa
  • Diosa Costello, American performer
  • Elvis Costello, British singer and musician (real name Declan Patrick MacManus)
  • Frank Costello, American criminal and mobster (born in Italy as Francesco Castiglia; took the Costello name in the 1920s)
  • Lou Costello, Italian-American actor and comedian (born Louis Francis Cristillo), part of Abbott and Costello

Fictional characters with the surname

  • Charlie Costello, one of the several psychopaths in the film Seven Psychopaths, portrayed by actor Woody Harrelson
  • Esther Costello, the deaf mute title character of the film The Story of Esther Costello, portrayed by actress Heather Sears
  • Frank Costello, the antagonist of the film The Departed, portrayed by actor Jack Nicholson
  • Frank "Punch" Costello, the "most drunken" character in chapter 14, the Oxen of the Sun episode, of James Joyce's Ulysses.
  • Jef Costello, the antihero of the film Le Samouraï, portrayed by actor Alain Delon
  • Kaitlin Costello, the key witness in the 1982 courtroom drama film The Verdict, portrayed by actress Lindsay Crouse
  • Maggie Costello, the protagonist of The Last Testament, book by Sam Bourne
  • Martha Costello QC, the lead character in the 2011- BBC series Silk, portrayed by actress Maxine Peake
  • Nora Costello, the protagonist of The Voice I Just Heard, a novel by Susan Dormady Eisenberg
  • The Costello family in Hollyoaks, a British television show
  • The Costello family in Tangerine, book by Edward Bloor

See also

References

  1. ^ "Annals of the Four Masters". ucc.ie. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  2. ^ http://www.heraldrysinstitute.com/cognomi/Castello/Italia/idc/20901/lang/it//
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