Bordonaro Family History

Italian (Sicily):: occupational name for a muleteer (strictly speaking a driver of hinnies, the offspring of a female donkey and a male horse) Italian bordonaro Sicilian bburdunaru (from Latin burdonarius).

The Sicilian word also means ‘tuna fishing net’; thus the name may have been a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman in some instances.

This derives from a derivative of bordone, which means ‘pilgrim's staff’ and was probably applied as a nickname for someone who had made a significant pilgrimage.