What’s in the spelling of a surname: No detail is too small to pass over right now in the Bay

And one thing that puzzled me was the spelling of Chief’s last name in the media after his suicide, “De Nardo”, which my rudimentary knowledge of the romance languages indicated as an intentionally changed spelling of Denardo, as we have spelled the Chief’s name here on Slabbed. First up is some linguistic research and for that I used House of Names:

The Denardo surname was a patronymic name, created from the personal name Nardo, which was in turn, a shortened form of Bernardo.

Denardo Early Origins
The surname Denardo was first found in the Kingdom of Naples, formerly Napoli or Neapolis, in southern Italy. There is also a city of Nardò in the province of Lecce, that dates from the Baroque era. Belisario Acquaviva, a nobleman and writer from the Kingdom of Naples became the first Duke of Nardo (Duca di Nardò) in the 15th century.

Denardo Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Di Nardi, Di Nardo, Nardo, Nardone, Nardini, Nardi, Nardis, Nordi, Nordine, Nardino

It no secret that Chief was ethically Italian which is why I wondered why his spelling of his surname would the use the French preposition “de” instead of the Italian equivalent “di” as shown above at House of Names. Maybe Chief changed how he spelled his last name after landing in some hot water over in St Tammany because in the Bay he did spell it “De Nardo”? Or maybe it was another reason. Whatever the reason, there is a younger man by the same name in Wallkill New York that uses the conventional spelling and I have a few press reports that illustrate it.

Head of Wallkill Fire District board charged with stealing nearly $240K from district coffers ~ William J. Kemble

The chairman of the Wallkill Fire District Board of Fire Commissioners was charged Monday with stealing nearly $240,000 during a three-year scheme in which he conned a fellow board member into pre-signing blank checks, according to state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright.

Michael Denardo, 38, of Wallkill, later cashed checks of varying amounts for personal use, the prosecutors said.

Notice the spelling of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s surname. It linguistically rings true as does the Americanized spelling of the Denardo surname in this story. Out of curiosity I followed this story to the finish line:

Ex-Wallkill Fire Official Sentenced for $240K Theft ~ Jackie Corley

A former Wallkill Fire District Board of Fire Commission chairman was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison for stealing nearly $240,000 from the district, Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright announced Friday.

Michael Denardo, 39, of Wallkill pleaded guilt in September to grand larceny and three counts of criminal tax fraud. Denardo obtained blank checks from the district’s account and submitted fraudulent invoices and receipts for expenses.

Some of you folks have been reading Slabbed long enough to immediately ask me a very important question after Chief committed suicide. What was Chief Denardo’s unshareable need? Lifers here know there is a high probability the Chief had an unshareable need thus the question and it was a bit of a mystery but I think we are making progress.

Stay tuned.