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Due to different cultures that had their impacts
on the Maltese archipelago, several surnames
were acquired.
Sicilian & Italian Surnames:
Sicilian and Italian surnames are common due to
the close vicinity to Malta.
Examples include Bonello, Camilleri, Cauchi,
Chetcuti, Dalli, Darmanin, Farrugia, Giglio,
Gauci, Delicata, Licari, Magri, Tabone,
Schembri, Vassallo, Rizzo, etc.
English Surnames
English surnames exist due to Malta forming a
part of the British Empire in the 19th century
and most of the 20th. Examples include Bickle,
Haidon, Harmsworth, Atkins, Mattocks, Martin,
Wallbank, Smith, Jones, Sixsmith, Woods, Turner,
Henwood.
Sicilian Semitic Surnames:
Semitic surnames are common, due to the early
presence of Eastern and Southern Mediterranean
people in Malta. Examples include Sammut,
Zammit, Said, Borg, Xuereb, Xerri, Grixti,
Xriha, although the last three are also written
in a Italianized form, i.e. Scerri, Griscti,
Sciriha, due to Maltese being written in the
Italian alphabet in the 19th century.
Spanish Surnames
Spanish surnames exist too. Three common
surnames are Calleja and Galdes and less common
surnames are Enriquez, Herrera, Guzman,
Inguanez, Carabez. A variant of Galdes exists
and is Galdies, with only one family possessing
it.
Greek Surnames:
Such as Papagiorcopoulo, Dacoutros,
Vasilopoulos, Vasilis, Trakosopoulos
French Surnames:
Such as Depuis, Montfort.
German Surnames:
Surnames from foreign countries from Middle Ages
include German ones such as von Brockdorff,
Engerer, Hyzler, Schranz, Craus, Fenech
Jewish Surnames:
The Jews have also left a relic of their
presence on the island with the surnames of
Abela, Ellul, Azzopardi and Cohen.
Double Surnames:
Some Maltese women, in order to preserve a rare
surname from becoming extinct after marriage,
add their maiden surname to their husband's.
Sometimes, it becomes a sign of social status.
These include: Spiteri-Gonzi, Fleri Soler,
Mifsud-Bonnici, Sammut-Alessi,
Sammut-Testaferrata, Cachia-Zammit, Caruana
Curran, Vella-Maistre, Zarb Cousin,
Fenech-Adami, Borg Olivier, Sant Fournier.
Surnames showing places in Malta
The few original Maltese surnames are those
which show places of origin, for example,
Chircop (Kirkop), Lia (Lija), Balzan (Balzan),
Valletta (Valletta), Sciberras (Xebb ir-Ras
Hill, on which Valletta was built) and possibly
Curmi from Qormi.
The village of Munxar, Gozo is characterised by
the majority of its population having one from
two surnames, either Curmi or de Brincat. In
Gozo, the surname Bajada is also very common.
Foreign Minority Surnames
Recently, due to asylum seekers from third world
countries, new family names have been created.
An example is Nwoko, following the
naturalisation of footballer Chucks Nwoko.
Others include Okoh, Ohaegbu, Yekoko, Stefanov,
Bogdanovic, Giorev, Mohammed, Abu Shala, Abu
Shamala.
Customs
Women take a man's surname upon marriage, and
their name is written as: Maria Borg née Zammit
in official documents, but only as Maria Borg in
informal scenarios. However some celebrities
retain their old name as a stage name. Generally
children take the surname of their father, but
some are given the name of their mother, either
alone or combined to their father's.
The custom to address a family is to use the
initial and surname of the male and refer also
to the family. For example, if a letter is sent
to a person named David Saliba and his family,
one writes Mr. and Mrs. D. Saliba.
Except for the new surnames from foreign
countries, and sometimes the long, combined and
rare ones, generally the Maltese people do not
give a lot of importance to the origins of their
surnames, and cohabit hand in hand.
Some Maltese surnames
Some examples of surnames from Malta are:
·
A:
Abdilla; Abela; Agius; Anastasi; Ancilleri;
Apap;
Aquilina; Arpa; Arrigo; Asciak; Attard;
Axisa; Azzopardi
·
B:
Bajada; Baldacchino; Balzan;
Barbara; Barbaro; Bartolo; Bencini;
Bezzina; Bickle; Bilocca; Bisazza; Boffa;
Bonanno; Bonavia; Bonello;
Bonnici; Bontempo; Borg; Briffa;
Brincat; Bruno; Bugeja; Buhagiar; Busuttil;
Buttigieg
·
C:
Cachia;
Calamatta; Calì; Calleja; Callus; Camenzuli;
Camilleri; Cannataci; Carabott; Caruana; Casha;
Cassar; Cauchi; Cefai; Chetcuti; Chircop;
Ciantar; Ciappara; Cilia; Cini; Coleiro;
Coppini; Cortis; Cremona; Cucciardi; Cumbo;
Curmi; Cuschieri; Cutajar
·
D:
Dalli; Dalmas; D'Amato; Darmanin; Debattista;
Debono; Debrincat; Decelis; Degabriele;
Degiovanni; Deguara; Delia; Delicata; Demanuele;
Demicoli; Desira; Diacono; Dimech; Dingli
·
E:
Ebejer; Ellul; Esposito
·
F:
Falzon;
Farrugia; Fava;
Fenech; Ferriggi;
Filletti; Fleri Soler; Formosa; Francalanza;
Frendo; Friggieri; Fsadni
·
G:
Gafa'; Galdes; Galea; Gambin; Gatt; Gauci;
Gerada; Ghigo; Ghirxi; Gonzi; Grech; Grillo;
Grima; Griscti; Grixti; Gusman
·
H:
Haber; Herrera; Hili; Hyzler
·
I:
Imbroll; Incorvaia; Inglott
·
L:
Laferla; Lanfranco; Lautier; Lewis; Lia
·
M:
Magri; Magro; Mahoney; Mallia; Mamo; Manduca;
Mangion; Marmara; Massa; Meilak; Meli; Mercieca;
Micallef; Mifsud; Mintoff; Mizzi;
Montebello; Montalto; Mugliett; Mula; Muscat;
Musumeci
·
N:
Nani; Naudi
·
P:
Pace; Padovani; Palmier; Parascandolo; Paris;
Parnis; Pavia; Penza; Pirotta;
Pisani;
Piscopo; Portelli; Privitelli; Psaila; Pule';
Pulis; Pullicino
·
Q:
Quattromani; Quintano
·
R:
Rapa; Rapinett; Refalo; Rizzo
·
S:
Sacco; Said; Saidon; Salerno; Saliba;
Sammut;
Sant; Sapiano; Sapienza; Savona; Scerri;
Sceberras; Schembri; Schiavone; Sciberras;
Scicluna; Scriha; Seguna; Seychell; Spagnol;
Spina; Spiteri; Stivala; Suda; Sultana
·
T:
Tabone; Tanti; Tedesco; Testa; Theuma; Tonna;
Trapani
·
V:
Valletta; Vassallo; Vella
·
X:
Xerri; Xuereb
·
Z:
Zahra;
Zammit; Zarb; Zerafa; Zrinzo
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