Bonaparte Was Originally Buonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte was born as Napoleon Buonaparte, the second son of a Corsican family with dual Italian heritage: his father Carlo descended from Francesco Buonaparte, a Florentine who had emigrated in the mid-sixteenth century. Napoleon's mother was a Ramolino, a family who arrived in Corsica c. 1500. For a while Carlo, his wife and their children were all Buonapartes, but a growing French influence on both Corsica, and the family, caused them to adopt the French version of their name: Bonaparte.French Influence
France gained control of Corsica in 1768, sending an army and a governor who would both play key roles in Napoleon's life. Carlo certainly became close friends with the Comte de Marbeuf, the French ruler of Corsica, while the elder children were educated in France; however, they remained almost wholly Buonaparte. It was only in 1793 that the use of Bonaparte begins to grow in frequency, thanks largely to Napoleon's failure in Corsican politics and the family's consequent flight to France, where they initially lived in poverty. Of course, Napoleon soon found success, first as an artillery commander and then in the triumphant Italian Campaign of 1795-6, whereupon he changed almost permanently to Bonaparte. Other members of his family followed as their lives became intertwined with the high-politics of France.Political Motivations
The changing of the family name from Italian to French seems clearly political in retrospect: as members of an up-and-coming dynasty who ruled France it made perfect sense to appear French and adopt French affectations. However, there's little evidence to suggest that there was ever a deliberate, family-wide, decision to rename themselves, and the constant and subversive effects of living amongst French culture should not be discounted. Carlo's death in 1785, well before the use of Bonaparte became even remotely common, may also have been an enabling factor.Readers may wish to note that a similar process happened to the Buonaparte children's first names: Joseph was born Giuseppe, Napoleon was Napoleone and so on.
