This Italian surname is of early Greek and Roman, pre Christian origins. Recorded in several spellings including Taquini, Taquinii, and Tarquinio, it is like many Italian names, an amalgam of diminutives (kinsmen) and patronymics (son of), all based around the original baptismal "Tarquinius". Italian surnames are in general a problem to researchers. The country did not become united until 1860, when Garribaldi carried out his famous march to Rome. Until then except for a short period when Napoleon Bonaparte was king, see below, the country, for over one thousand years, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, was a loose federation of states. Some like Venice and Genoa were rich, the remainder, particularly those in the south, very poor, and none paid much attention to record keeping. Registers of birth, death and marriage were in general use throughout Europe from the 16th century, but not in Italy until the late 19th. Examples of this surname include Splendora Tarquinii, the daughter of Tomaso Tarquinii, christened at San Angelo Mosciano, Teramo, on April 17th 1863, and Domenicanto Tarquini, christened at Bellante, Teramo, on May 21st 1863, coincidentally in the same year. The first known church recording is believed to be that of Pietro Taquinio, at Castellaneto, Taranto, on October 13th 1804. This was during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1802 - 1814, when he was overthrown.

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