Sonvico Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Sonvico Parish, Ticino, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The former municipality of Sonvico is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton. It is located at the northern edge of the Cassarate valley and included the Dino hamlet. Sonvico had an area of 11.1 km² (4.3 square miles). The land use was divided up as follows:
 * 12.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 80.1% - forested
 * 6.7% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.2% - rivers or lakes
 * 3.8% - unproductive land

History
In 1040, Sonvico was first mentioned with the name of Summo Vico. Sonvico is in the Lugano district and the Ticino canton. Sonvico merged into the municipality of Lugano on 14 April 2013.

The population history of Sonvico is: 1600 - 894 inhabitants 1643 - 842 inhabitants 1670 - 775 inhabitants 1850 - 1,004 inhabitants 1860 - 1,006 inhabitants 1870 - 1,216 inhabitants 1880 - 898 inhabitants 1890 - 936 inhabitants 1900 - 815 inhabitants 1910 - 889 inhabitants 1920 - 914 inhabitants 1930 - 908 inhabitants 1941 - 955 inhabitants 1950 - 1,004 inhabitants 1960 - 1,005 inhabitants 1970 - 1,129 inhabitants 1980 - 1,236 inhabitants 1990 - 1,361 inhabitants 2000 - 1,600 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 79.7% were Roman Catholic
 * 6.4% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 10.6% belong to another church

In 1419, Sonvico became an independent parish when it separated from the Lugano parish. In 1375, the provost church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste was mentioned. It was rebuilt in 1407 and refurbished from 1780 through 1830. In 1146, the Saint-Martin oratory was mentioned.

Census
(See here for information regarding Ticino census records.)

The 1808 Ticino census for Sonvico can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Sonvico prior to 1900, along with any known soprannomi. For more information about soprannomi, click here.

Related sources
The town's website (in Italian) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Ticino

Societies
Società Genealogica della Svizzera Italiana (SGSI)