Joe, This term was used to signify that the child was illegitimate. Even though the parents may have been known, in Italy the names usually don't appear on the birth record. It was more important to protect the "good" names of the parents. The child was usually given a name by someone in the town (perhaps the mayor, priest, midwife or someone at an orphanage where the child might be dropped off). In some parts of Italy there is/was a rule of thumb to name an illegitimate child-1) the surname might be Esposito, D'Innocenzia (Innocent), d'Amore, etc. 2) the surname might be entirely "made up" or 3) the surname might be "somewhat" like the name of the father. For example, if the father's name was deNigris, the child's surname might be Nigro. Once in a while you might see a birth record of an illegitimate child where the mother's name is given but the father is listed as "padre incerto," unknown. Hope this helps. Adrienne . In a message dated 9/10/2004 7:55:34 PM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: On an Italian death record the following was written; Salvatore Sfortunato (the deceased) died at 9 days. No mother and father listed but the word "proietto" written in reference to the deceased. In the Italian dictionary the closest meaning--that makes sense in this context--is gettata: rejected discarded? Can someone help me? thank you and thank you for the help in the past. Joe