w w w . t r e g e n z a . o r g

This information on this page is graciously provided by Paul Tregenza from his book The Genealogy of Tregenza Family. The work represents the authoritative study of Tregenza genealogy and we thank him for allowing the results of many years of research to be made available here. Copyright of the following text remains with Paul Tregenza.
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THE TREGENZA FAMILY

The family name

The Tregenza family is Cornish in origin as the old adage suggests:

   Tre, Pol and Pen
   True Cornishmen


Not Spanish

Although a Spanish origin has been suggest for the surname (family name) there is no evidence to support this or any good reason to propose it.   The "Z" gives a suitable pronunciation as it is the way that a "S" is pronounced in the Cornish dialect.   The landing of the Spanish at Mousehole in 1595 occurred over two hundred years before Tregenzas were found in that part of Cornwall.


Varied spellings in Cornwall

The spelling has varied but the pronunciation is always similar in the Cornish dialect.   The ending has been "S" or "Z" with "OE", "O", "OW" or "A".   As the emphasis is always on the first two syllables the ending is hardly heard in normal Cornish pronunciation.


Varied spellings out of Cornwall

Outside Cornwall the name is often mis-spelt, most frequently one or both of the "E"s are replaced by "A".  Branches of the family in North America and New Zealand have adopted these spellings TREGANZA and TRAGANZA.

"I will now explain the Treganza part.   My grandfather JAMES who was born October 11 1841 in Cornwall came to this country in 1842 and went to Hazel Green, Wisconsin, mostly by covered wagon.   It was there that a schoolmistress thought the name Treganza sounded better than Tregenza.   As so often happened in the early west days, names were changed.   It was on the trip to Cornwall in 1924 that my mother and I decided to go back to the original spelling."

JACK R TREGENZA (letter 1971)
USA Family 1