I was recently asked whether there were any other Nasi families in Italy? Only a few have surfaced, including two sisters in the late 16th century who married two of the Bassano brothers – musicians in Venice who were later invited by Henry VIII to become resident players at his court. They remained as court musicians, and the family continued as fine instrument makers in London for centuries afterwards.
Nasi is a very unusual name; genealogists think it has only ever been used by families that have ties to the original and distinguished Nasi clan that came originally to Provence from Baghdad around the time of Charlemagne (800 CE). Some later drifted south into Spain and others turn up here and there in commercial documents in northern Italy. But it is neither an Italian nor a Spanish name; nor is it an Italian-Jewish or Spanish-Jewish name. It is unique. It can only be traced to the original Nasi – the name given to the leaders of the Jews in exile who were supposed to have descended from the House of David.
Nasi means prince in Hebrew, and it is sometimes spelled Nassi. We would love to hear from anyone with that name today.
Hey Mr. Brooks, for years I have wanted to do research on the Nasi family tree because it is such a unique name, yet there seems to be so many people with the same last name around the world. I am from Canada but my father, a Nasi, but changed it to Nassi because French Canadians often mispronounce it, was born in Turkey and used to always tell me how our family are descendants from Dona Gracia. I wanted to know, have you done any genealogical research?
Hi Elyssa,
Delighted to have your join us. Please “like” our pages if you have not already done so. Yes, we do have some genealogical information, but nothing later than Dona Gracia herself. Her line died out with her daughter, who might have had a baby daughter but the record suggests there were no direct descendents. However, there may well have been descendents through her brother, Aries, or other siblings that we could not trace (and perhaps never existed). Does your father know why he believes you are descendents? Certainly, the fact that he came from Turkey is significant, but I need more information. Please do let me know,
Andree Brooks
my great grandmother’s name was Kalo Nasi . My Nona’s hebrew name was Senora . I remember being told as a kid that someone way back in our family line was advisor to Suleiman The Magnificent ( which i learn was most likely Selim II ) .
My grandparents were from Istanbul and came to UK ( Holland Park Synagogue founded by Salonikans and Istanbulies ) in the 1900s . They were cousins too .
So , i believe we are descendants from someone called Nasi , which one i have no idea .
We are thrilled with our post. Do tell us more.