Are the French actually part Italian?

Question

I asked this before, but I have not gotten many answers. I have French ancestors who were from Southern France. I can tell this because they had a Southern French name (Rey) that is also used in Spain and Italy. They had the characteristics of the majority of the Italian population; the very dark hair, the dark eyes, and tan skin. (Although some Italians have blonde hair and blue eyes). I would like to consider myself Italian, as long as it would be based on fact.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm American but live in Italy. Well, first you must know that European countries are very small, so it's easy to travel to one country to another. With that said, a lot of countries such as Italy, Spain, and France (to name a few) are very close geographically speaking. I have Italian friends that tell me they can go to France, Slovenia, Austria, etc. in less than 1 hour. A lot of Italians emigrated to other countries such as Germany, England, France, etc or married/marry foreigners. So yes, your French cousins might just have some Italian blood in them. If there last name is Rey, they most likely have Spanish blood though (In Italian it would be Re and in French it would be Roi). I work in a hotel and we get a lot of French clients.....a lot of them either have Italian or Spanish surnames.

Well, I hope I was helpful.

Answer 2

I'll come right to the point: the majority of the Italian people doesn't have very dark hair, dark eyes and tan skin. The average Italian from all over Italy has brown hair, brown or hazel eyes and medium white skin. The thing we Italians have tan skin is an American invention. A lot of Italians are tanned but it doesn't mean they were born with this kind of complexion. They spend money in sunlamps or they just stay under the sun. You, as well as most people, seem to think in Italy there are only two kind of people, those with tanned skin and dark features and those with blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin. It seems only blonde haired people can have light complexion.
Southern France is close to northern Italy, where the majority of people have any shade of brown hair, then we have half people with brown eyes and the other half with bright blue eyes, or green. There are many blondes and a few redheads, as well as few people with very dark hair. Our complexion is often very light, even pale, we have some people with olive skin but they aren't the majority. For this reason if you think your French family might be Italian judging by your features, you're making a big mistake. Take a look at Carla Bruni.
In Italy the surname Rey DOES exist. It has some strain in both north-west Italy and Naples. Northern Italians with the surname Rey are from Piedmont and Aosta Valley, two regions that before the unification of Italy were linked to France. In Naples this surname has Spanish origins (southern Italians were ruled by Borbone before joining Italy).

Answer 3

a sparkling thought has emerged at the instant pointing out that blondes are a genetic mutation that befell in Northern Europe eons in the past and the white race stepped forward over a while of selective breeding. It is sensible to me. virtually all the earth's peoples have brown eyes and dark pores and skin. If it exchange into version to the north Eskimos could be blonde. Even the unique inhabitants of the united kingdom have been a dismal human beings.

Answer 4

Your question makes no sense.
No sense in Old World anyway.

It is impossible to definy own ancestry in Europe.
You will have to backdate to prehistorical ages and trace one thousand different populations.

A French body appearance doesn't exist.

I can guess you are distinguishably American.

Answer 5

Not really. Some do have Belgian, Basque, Norman and Alsatian ancestry, but they are all considered to be French. This is one of the brilliant aspects of France, that all people are treated equally but they must integrate in some fashion.

Answer 6

I am sure that they are, at least some of them.