Hi guys Ive been reading this forum for the past week this is my first post. Im from right outside of philadelphia. Last week on thanksgiving i found out that 2 of my cousins are very close associates to joey merlino ( one of them has been described as joeys close associate in numerous newspaper articles). This came as a huge surprise to me and sparked back up a huge interest in the mob and thats what led me here.

Thats not my reason for the thread but finding that out brought back a question I had since childhood. my grandmothers maiden name is Gambino. I
have a few uncles and cousins with the last name Gambino. None of them are in the mob ( the other cousins I spoke of are on my moms side and gambinos are on my dads, how ironic). Im100% italian and i used to ask my dad if we were related to the mafia and he said if we are then it is a very distant relation but he wasnt sure. He also said that years ago a bunch of italian guys in suits knocked on our door and claimed to be from a furniture buisness, they said they seen our name in the phone book and that if we ever needed anything to let them know.

Now I know gambino is not a common name My question is is there a way I can trace back my family tree? Like a website I could go on to find out if im distantly related to some old mobsters. Also how many mobsters actually had the last name gambino.

There's Gambino's in china too, no lie. A friend of mine teaches at a private school over there basically for Rich American Businessmen's kids. One of her students she told me had the last name Gambino.

You probably are related to Carlo but a 5th or 6th cousin maybe. All the Gambino's are of Sicilian descent because It's a Sicilian surname and are related somehow.

most places you'll also find a handful of Capones but I doubt they are related to Al. But Gambino, that's kinda cool I'd also be interested if I were related to any notable figures

go to ancestry.com. It is the most comprehensive, ancestry website. It costs money to join, but well worth it if you're serious about creating a "true" family tree that is verified through death records, birth records, emigration records etc.

Thanks JCB thats the kinda answer I was looking for. Wasnt trying to pay but ill look into it.

Id just like to see if my family tree traces back to carlo. Now was carlo the only Gangster with the last name gambino?

That is the amazing thing about growing up in America, isn't it? Such a melting pot.

If that's what you are looking for, it will be the only place you could find it...but be prepared. You will need dates of death, birth, full names, original names from birth certificates and ellis island info. Good luck.

My mum has an Ancestry account.
If you IM me I can try to look up a few details for you?

Dude, why my answer wasn't good enough? Bad News. That's a good name 4 you.

I'm curious to know what age group Bad News falls into...

True dg. Thought that myself.

I'm just going to take a wild guess here since you mentioned Joey Merlino and said your last name is Gambino are you saying your a relative of now deceased Philly mobster Frank Gambino

Im 24. I don't know if im a relative of any mobsters. My cousins are good friends with joey merlino.

I was trying to find out if there was a way to trace back my family tree. I went on the ancestry site and im having trouble. I only know up to my grandparents. I was hoping I could enter in my family tree as far back as I know and then hopefully they could tell who im related to somehow off that but I don't see that as an option on that site.

As far as I can see it only lets you type in your ancestors names youre aware of and then gives you information about them like immigration and voting records.

Is there a fee to do that? I would think they would have some better search tools on there even if you have limited information.

theres a fee for the site membership but im using a free 30 day trial.

Yeah I just went on there and saw that.

Try using the "hints" they give you on your tree, chances are that someone else has someone you know of (you grandparents) already on their tree, if you get lucky they might have more information than you do and you can work your way from there.

Another method would to be to identify a known Gambino mob member (and there are quite a few besides the famous Don Carlo) and maybe someone has a tree connecting them to people you know of in your family. And yes, I've checked and a user ( madeleinelopez) has Don Carlo on their tree.

Gambino should be relatively easy to track down because it's a rare name that comes from one region of Sicily. There's big cluster of Gaminos in California, New York and Philly according the quick search I did. If you were looking for a John Jones who you "think" might have been in New York, well that's a other ball of wax.

Ancestry.com is probly your best bet. We were able to put together a pretty comprehensive history of our surname which is impressive bc it was anglicized once my great grandfather immigrated. We have found distant relatives who have links to our "tree". Mostly in Louisiana Mississippi and Texas lol. My parents did all this a few yrs ago

This post and subsequent thread and the "Why do mobsters have girlfriends?" post REALLY have me worried and have confirmed many of fears and doubts. WOW!

why is that? why do mobsters have girlfriends is obviously a dumb ass question but whats the problem with mine?

and thanks everyone for your help.

you come on this site to talk about mobsters all day that you never met.. which is fine by me but my family has a last name highly associated with the mob so im curious if im related to some of these guys and you have fears and doubts with that? youre a fuckin nut.