In Kentucky (USA) (where I live) folk generally state their county of origin very early in the "hello, nice to meet ya" ritual (aka the "howdie").   County is important here...

In Philadelphia, PA (where I am from), my caste of people would want to know what parish you were from - St. Dominic Savio? St. Martin of Tours? St. Stanislaus?   Once you'd get that established, you could start with the "Do you know ... the O'Donnells? ... The Kowalskis? ... The Venutis?" It's probably changed a bunch in Philly.