Cloudy With A Chance of Italian Quiz

Answer: Connie Francis

Other successful recordings by singer/actress Connie Francis include "Lipstick on Your Collar" and "Where the Boys Are". She had a brief romance with Bobby Darin, and has said that her biggest regret was not marrying him. Current online maps of Italian surname distribution in Italy indicate that "Franconero" is found most often in the Calabria region.

It is a variant of "Franconeri", which could mean "of the dark Frankish people".

Answer: Frankie Avalon

Mr. Avalon's "Beach Party" series co-star, Annette Funicello, was a fellow Italian-American . A satirical sequel to the first seven movies (1963-1965) was released in 1987. One of Mr. Avalon's biggest hits as a singer was "Venus". Online sources say "Avallone" is the Italian rendering of "Avalon", the mythical island in Arthurian legend.

The Celtic etymology of the name suggests it means "isle of apple trees". There is much debate as to where Avalon was supposed to be located; among the suggestions is Mount Etna in Sicily.

This Italian surname's largest area of concentration in Italy is the Campania region, especially Naples.

Answer: Anne Bancroft

Online surname maps for Italy show the surname "Italiano" as occurring chiefly in Sicily. The meaning of the name should be pretty self-explanatory! In addition to "The Miracle Worker", Ms. Bancroft is probably best known for her notoriously iconic role as Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate". She was married to director Mel Brooks from 1964 until her death in 2005.

Answer: Tony Bennett

As a singer, Mr. Bennett has also recorded duets with Lady Gaga, and he does some painting, mostly landscapes, examples of which can be found online. "Benedetto" means "blessed" in Italian. Major provenances of this surname are the regions of Puglia and Piemonte, according to the maps.

Answer: Connie Stevens

Ms. Stevens also had a hit song, "Sixteen Reasons", in 1960. She is the mother of actresses Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher. Online sources indicate that Ingolia is a variant of the surname Ingoglia, meaning "of the Goglia family". The name Goglia is believed to come from an ancient personal name, Gagliardo, which evolved from Germanic elements: "gail" meaning "joyous", and "hard" meaning "brave." Ingolia is considered a Sicilian surname.

Answer: James Darren

Mr. Darren's character, Moondoggie, was Gidget's main love interest in the eponymous movies. One of his best-known recordings is the song "Goodbye Cruel World". The surname Ercolani is found mainly in the large central area of Italy that includes Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria and Lazio.

It derives from the Latin name Herculanus, meaning "dedicated to Hercules". The Perugian bishop Ercolano, who died a martyr in 547, was later made the patron saint of the city of Perugia, in Umbria.

Answer: Madonna

Besides her considerable achievements in music, Madonna has made movies and is the mother of six, four adopted from Africa and two biological. Surname distribution maps show "Ciccone" as concentrated mostly in the Campania region of Italy. The name literally means (of the family of) "Big Cicco", Cicco being a nickname/diminutive for the name Francesco.

Answer: Frankie Valli

Mr. Valli was born in Newark, NJ, and the story goes that he decided on a singing career after attending, at age seven, a Frank Sinatra concert in Manhattan. All three of his bandmates in the Four Seasons were also of Italian ancestry. "Castelluccio" literally means "small castle". Online sources say that this surname has its origins in the Italian region of Basilicata.

Answer: Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is also known for her songs "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance". She was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in New York City. "Germanotta" could mean "female blood relative" or "of Germanic origin"; sources aren't sure. It is considered a Sicilian surname, and Lady Gaga's paternal grandfather emigrated from the province of Messina, Sicily, to the United States in 1908.

Answer: Bobby Darin

"Cassotto" literally means "small case, crate, or box". Bobby Darin's maternal grandfather emigrated to America from the Basilicata region of Italy. Mr. Darin's early life was pretty messed up -- his "sister" turned out to be his mother, and his "mother" turned out to be his grandmother. An extremely talented artist, he was never in good health, and left us too soon at age 37.