Five Family Names

The Aunt Jemima re-branding got me thinking...

The five families we know today Lucchese, Genovese, Gambino, Colombo and Bonanno have all had different names over time.

Are these current names are permanent or is there a chance some or all might change in the future? If so, which ones, why and what will be the new name?
Or are these established brands and changing names could hurt that brand.

Do you disagree with any of the current names or think they should have been renamed already? For example, should the Gambino family been the Gotti family?

As I'm sure you know, Joe Massino had the audacity to attempt to rebrand the Bonannos as the Massino family; which as you've pointed out there should be historical precedent to do.

As far as I have always understood it, families traditionally bore the name of whoever the official boss was; it's only after Joe Valachi blew the whistler that the five families became frozen with the names by which they were so publicly branded. In theory, these days it ought to be the Bellomo family, the Mannino family, the Amuso family, the Mancuso family and the whoever the hell is running the Colombo outfit family. If someone more expert than I am can correct me on this, I will stand corrected but that is what I understood. For very obvious reasons, I'm sure the current bosses would much prefer these days that everyone continue to refer to them by their historical names.

The one outlier was the Colombos - when Valachi testified it was the Profaci family. Joe Colombo, publicity hound that he was, became well known enough to effectively rebrand the family at that time - a testament to how public he was and an explanation as to why he ended up getting killed.

I doubt there would ever be any appetite to rename the families and if I were a Gambino solider I would most certainly not want to be associated to the Gotti name. That was the downfall of the mafia in general but of the Gambino family in particular. Given the prevalence of TV shows like "Growing up Gotti" I would doubt many gangsters of any traditional substance would want to be associated to a TV show name.

The bottomline is, few of the men who followed in the footsteps of those storied Godfathers lived up to the reputation or ability of their predecessors. With the possible exception of Corallo, who I would say was a worthy successor to Lucchese, most of these families have been beset by the greedy, excessively violent, short sighted and nepotistic leadership that followed these men.

Imagine if the Bonannos had actually become the Massinos - they would be a whole family named after a rat!

I don't think it will ever happen. For a couple of these families it is highly debatable as to how much longer they will continue to exist with any real relevance, never mind what they are called.

Joe Bonanno is a rat....so what’s the difference?

Because write his book? Its different,he was old while Massino was still the boss when flipped.

I agree in principle that the Bonannos are bar none the most embarrassing excuse for a Mafia family of all the five families. But what Joe Bonanno did is a long way off from what Joe Massino did. Nobody, at least not directly, went to jail as a result of Bonanno's book, nor did he in any way co-operate with the government. The book and subsequent 60 Minutes appearance were two more shameful chapters in the pathetic saga of the Bonanno borgata but it was not equivalent to turning state's witness and testifying against your own Underboss!

Telling your life story doesn't make you a rat, taking a deal, taking the stand, and incriminating people makes you a rat

Giuliani did use Bonanno's book as evidence in the Commission case.

Guiliani was and is a Moron. There was enough information on the wiretaps to put them away anyway. There is nothing in Bonannos book that would convict anybody who was alive at that time, sole on the strength of the book. He barely incriminates himself in the book. The only way to real decipher his book, is with corresponding FBI files and a understanding of CN to read between the lines. I doubt "running hair dye head" was competent enough to do so. It was Tony Ducks, Paul's Tape and the photos of the Commission meeting that brought them down. It was inevitable.

Giuliani was a real hump to bother an old man who was already long retired in my opinion. But thats Rootin-Tootin Rudy for ya

We get the Five Families' names from journalists and authors, not from active members of those families.

He was trying to get him to testify as a witness, Bonnano would have made a much better witness than Angelo Lonardo or Jimmy Frattiano or Joseph Cantaloupe...

His son was a rat and if he was facing the time and death penalty Massino was he would have ratted 100%. He wrote a book outing the commission and the life with no provocation...

I call bullshit. He wouldn't have ratted, and the point is that he DIDN'T rat, so at the end of the day the fact that you believe he would've ratted doesn't matter. His reason for writing the book was to justify and explain away his way of life, to try to convince the public that he was part of something honorable. He was facing zero charges and had zero reason to rat with a book, not a single guy who went down in the Commission case was mentioned in the book, mostly everyone mentioned were long dead. Also, Massino wasn't "facing" the death penalty, the government bluffed him. Anyone who thinks a mobster is going to get the death penalty in a state like NY for killing another gangster when you have people running around killing helpless grandmas and not getting the death penalty needs their head examined. Also, Corallo, Salerno, Santoro, Furnari, Persico, Langella, and the rest of that bunch all took their 100-year sentences with pride and honor, I have no reason to believe that Bonanno wouldn't have done the same. Funny how the numerous people who take their sentences like a man don't make the front pages but rats are on every front page in the country lol what the fu** is the world coming to.

Joe Bonanno wasn't a rat, but writing that book was a rat move. He lost a lot of respect when he did that. Both Rusty and Patty DeFilippo felt betrayed by him, and they used to love that guy.

I agree with you. Especially that last sentence of yours. 1,000,000% correct IMO!

Its a strange, sick world we live in when thats what's celebrated!

LOUIEBYNOCHI. Bonanno wouldn't have ratted. He didn't talk to Bill for years after he found out about his cooperation. Joe was an original. They were stand up, what makes you think he was any less then his "generational" succesors in the Commission case?

Ralphie_Cifaretto, its a debatable point, let's just say it wasn't wise. But where was Rusty's love/loyalty when they supported Di Gregorio/Sciacca. And to that point, what did he have to gain by protecting the people who pushed him out. I go by intentions, he could have easily said "we had a meeting at paul castellano's house" (just as an example, if he was really trying to hurt them. Just saying. Why not mention their names???