Spana Family History & Genealogy

Summary

There are two at least two groups of Spanas in the US. One group is of Italian immigrants who came to the U.S. with Spana as their last name or who shorten their Italian surname to Spana. Another Spana family is of Polish descent.

History

Wojciech Szpejna (1866-1937) immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800's from Poland. He first came to Connecticutt and then moved to Michigan. His last name was pronounced "sh-pay-nuh". He simplified his name by spelling it as Spana which was probably pronounced with the same long "a". In censuses, articles and church records, it is sometimes spelled: Spayna, Spayne, Shpayna, Scpayna. Later it was pronounced as "spa-nuh" with a short "a". By also simplifying his first name, Wojciech Szpejna became George Spana. His descendants going forward went by Spana.

Name Origin

We don't have any information on the origins of the Spana name. Have information to share?

Spellings & Pronunciations

In a similar manner, his brother Franciszek Szpejna's family changed their last name. This family, who lived in Connecticutt, changed their name to Spain thus keeping the long "a" pronounciation from Szpejna.

Nationality & Ethnicity

Polish

Famous People named Spana

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Early Spanas

These are the earliest records we have of the Spana family.