United States of America 20th Century to Present
According to the Ellis Island immigration records, the first people with the Varsano surname to arrive in the United States of America did so a few years after the turn of the 20th Century. Pasquale Varsano is listed as the relative and friend of several immigrants from Italy that arrived in 1907. Presumably, Pasquale arrived just a few years before his family and friends but it’s possible that he was born in the USA. Most of the Varsano family still lived in the Balkan region of Europe during the early 20th Century.
After the Great Fire of 1917 in Salonica, Greece, many Jews chose not to rebuild in what some called the Jerusalem of the Balkans. The Greek Christians were not as welcoming as the Moslem Ottomans had been previously to the Jewish community. While most of Salonica’s Jews, including most Varsanos, helped rebuild their burnt community, a few adventurous individuals tried their luck in the Americas. Most were part of the great wave of European immigration in the 1900s-1920s to the United States. Other Varsanos made their way to Canada, South America, France, and British Palestine.
World War I
Jacob Mercado Varsano born in May of 1880 and was of Turkish Nationality (Ottoman Empire), most likely from Salonica. At age 36 in 1917 or 1918, he registered in New York City for the WWI Draft for US Military. Solomon Varsano was born on October 27, 1889, and was of Turkish Nationality (Ottoman Empire), most likely from Salonica. He was a married man working for Hyho Dry Battery Company and spoke English. At age 27 in 1917 or 1918, he registered in New York City for the WWI Draft for US Military. Source: NARA Publication: M1509 World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards
US Immigration Policy Shifts
By the 1920s, there was a significant uptick in Varsano immigrants coming through Ellis Island due to wars, discrimination, and economic hardship in Europe. On March 10, 1920, Acher Varsano, a single 29 year old druggist from Salonica boarded the SS Pannonia in Patras, Greece headed for New York. On April 2, 1920, arrived at Ellis Island along with his mother Esther age 56 and Diamandi Eskenazi, a 60 year man that worked as a housekeeper. The group of three immigrants with Sephardic Jewish surnames were on records for Aliens Held for Special Inquiry on April 5, and were on the records for the ship Giuseppe Verdi from Naples, Italy, as well. Acher was joining his brother Salomon Varsano, who was already in New York. His brother Haim was a relative in the US.
Acher Varsano met Palomba “Pauline” Esformes (born in Salonica) in New Brunskwick, New Jersey. Three years after arriving in the US, Acher would marry Palomba “Pauline” Varsano in New York. The newlyweds would begin building their American family in New York City where they would remain for several generations. Acher and Pauline would have four children: Ester, Bessie, Sabe, and Jack. Esther and Bess also had kids
The children would have their own children and continue to pursue the American dream. The youngest child Jack Varsano married Roslyn Pearl and they had two boys, Adam and Marc. Marc Varsano would go on to open the famed Greenwich Village chocolaterie, Varsano’s Chocolate. Whenever a member of the Varsano family visits Manhattan, a visit to Varsano’s Chocolates is a must.
Sabe Varsano met Blanche Siegel in New York and the couple was eventually married. Sabe and Blanche had two children. Paula Varsano is their daughter. David Asher Varsano married Jill Varsano and lives with their family in Marblehead, MA. He has three sons: Jacob Varsano, Samuel Varsano, and William Varsano.
Several other risk taking Greek Varsanos made a similar journey during this time period, while the Bulgarian Varsanos mostly stayed in relatively friendly confines of Bulgaria. In 1921 and 1924, the US Congress passed immigration laws that severely limited the number and “national origin” of new immigrants. The door was basically shut on many new Jewish immigrants to the US, so the lucky ones that arrived from during the first two decades of the century would represent the essential survival of the Greek Varsanos. The restrictive immigration laws did not change in the 1930s and early 1940s, as desperate Jewish refugees attempted to immigrate from Nazi dominated areas of Europe. Nearly all of the Varsano families that remained in Greece, perished in the Holocaust. The few that survived were still not allowed to immigrate to the United States, even after the war ended. Some Greek Varsanos made their way to British Palestine, but it wasn’t until 1948 that they found refuge in Israel. The Bulgarian Varsanos mostly survived WWII, but were also excluded from coming to the US in the 1940s. The Bulgarians endured another three years of Soviet-dominated communism after the war, until they found their way to Israel.
Varsano Service in United States Military during World War II
Samuel Varsano was born in 1924 in New York and resided in the Bronx in the 1940s. Samuel enlisted in the US Military on April 21, 1943 in New York City. His initial rank was Private (Serial #32893657). He had completed 4 years of high school and his civil occupation was stenographers and typists. He was only 18 or 19 years old at the time of his enlistment and was single without dependents. His enlistment was for the duration of the war or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law.
Statue of Liberty and California Dreamin’
Mordecai Varsano, originally from Sofia, Bulgaria but living in Jaffa, Israel, visited North America for the first time in the fall of 1964. On October 9, 1964 in front of the global symbol of freedom and the American way of life, the Statue of Liberty, he met the love of his life Elaine Schneider. The two love birds would have an international romance and get married only a few months later in Israel. After living in Israel together for few years, life circumstances would change and the young couple would relocate to Elaine’s hometown of North Hollywood, California in 1967. On January 7, 1970, Mordecai and Elaine Varsano would celebrate the birth of their only child, Jonathan Isaac Varsano. Read more about their All-American Romance.
In 1992, Jonathan Varsano graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara and acquired a real estate broker’s license the following year. Jon would marry Lauren (Fink) Varsano on June 24, 2000 in Los Angeles, California. Jon and Lauren welcomed the birth of their first child, Max Aaron Varsano, in 2003 and their second child, Hana Rachel Varsano, in 2006. Jonathan Varsano would go on to found Vars Real Estate in 2011; author the book Seeco’s Story – My father’s heroic journey through Bulgaria, Israel, and America; and is creator of the Varsano Family Roots Projects at Varsano.net.
Jet Mogul Varsano
Steve Varsano was born in New York on July 30, 1956. At the age of 17 years old, Steve earned his pilot’s license. In 1977, he graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Studies. Steve Varsano is the CEO of The Jet Business which is described as “the world’s first and
only street-level aviation showroom for corporate jet aircraft.”
According to the Embry-Riddle website, ” His London-based firm and showroom have been the subject of extensive profiles by The New York Times, the BBC, Forbes, and The Sunday Times, among others, and he is often sought by media for discussions on trends in business aviation. Varsano is a former board member of private jet charter company XOJET and the spaceflight firm Virgin Galactic.”
Varsano Stats in the United States
- VARSANO is ranked as the 330506th most popular family name in the United States with an estimated population of 46.
- The surname Varsano is most prevalent in New York, where 28 percent live, California, where 20 percent live and New Jersey, where 19 percent live
- The name VARSANO has a higher likelihood of being Hispanic origin and a lower likelihood of being White.
- Varsano surname are 25.94% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 79.17% registered with the political party.
- Varsanos earn more than fifty percent more than the average income
Ranking of People with Varsano name globally over “recent” history
Source: Mynamestats.com and forebears.io