This has bothered me for ages.

When I read Al D'Arco's book, they always referred to it as "Luchese" although this and Jerry Capeci's writing is the only place I seem to see it spelled that way. I noticed on John Pennisi's blog too that Jerry castigated him (ironic being that Pennisi was a member) for not spelling it with one C.

Anytime I see Gaetano Lucchese referred to it always seems to be with two C's.

Why the debate? Where did it come from? It seems fairly obvious that the family is named after Tommy Lucchese and therefore would be spelt the way he spelled his own name.

I know its a nit-picky question but does anyone have the answer?

Luchese is misspelled Lucchese is correct. Very old name it can be traced back to ancient Sicily, the area of Naples, and the southern part of the Italian peninsula.

I confirm,its Lucchese not Luchese.

I think the FBI first misspelled the name happened more often back in the days.

The FBI started referring to it as Luchese in the 1960s and stuck with it despite his birth name being Lucchese. Capeci followed suit with the feds in referring to it as Luchese. Luckese is the spelling that appears on his grave. On Gang Land News, whenever Capeci refers to the man he writes Lucchese but when he refers to the family he uses Luchese.

Lucchese got a lot of press back in the 50s and they always spelled it "Luchese". You can see it spelled that way in old FBI documents too. I assume when they started to do more thorough research on these guys they realized it was spelled Lucchese. You can see it spelled that way in the Lucchese Family chart they had when Valachi testified.

This article has the man's signature in it and he has written "Lucchese"
https://www.newspapers.com/image/415687288/?terms=luchese&match=1


From the Al D'Arco book:
"In a bid to avoid notoriety, the father juggled the spelling of the family name. Police and newspapers spelled it as "Luchese." Joe Valachi gave it an extra "c" when he began singing to prosecutors. His own preference was "Luckese." Jokesters had teased him with rhymes of "cheese," he explained. That's how the name was carved on his tombstone when he died in 1967."