Throughout the entire history of the Mafia in Sicily, and later in America, its members NEVER referred to their "brotherhood" or organization as the Mafia per se. Thats a fact!

Depending upon in what era we're speaking of, and in what part of the world or nation, they were known as the "La Mano Nera" "Friends of the Friends" "The Piccioteria" "The Zubbio" "The Outfit" "The Arm" "The Office" "The Boys" "The Mob" "Connected" etc., etc., etc.

Individual members were known as mafiosi, connected, button guys, soldati, the boys, etc., and so on.

In Napoli and Calabria they were the Camorra, or Camorrista, the Onorato Societa' (The Honored Society), uomo di rispetto (man of respect). Later they called themselves N'drangheta. etc. But they were still "mafia" in essence.

The Mafia is actually a term used mostly be the government and the public to identify them, but members themselves almost never use that phrase.

The terminology and phrase "cosa nostra" has been used in one variation or another for many, many decades, possibly for over 100 years already. It's English translation simply means "our thing" meaning that we all belong to the "same thing," hence another variation spoken into the ears of fellow members privately, "a stessa cosa" which means, "its the same thing"....in other words, "we are the same thing."

After the blending of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Neopolitan underworld factions in America it became more common to use the phrase "cosa nostra" because they were now truly one entity. But that phrase has been used many years before Valachi exposed it to the public.