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An Overview of Gozo

by Mario CASSAR

The names of medieval Gozo were surprisingly different from those of Malta. Vella barely existed, whereas it constituted a hefty 3% of Malta's names in 1419. Zammit, Micallef, Zarb, Ellul, Caruana, and Chilia (cf. Cilia), among others, are barely discernible throughout the Middle Ages, while Refalo, Mintuf (cf. Mintoff), Manuele (cf. Demanuele), Rapa and many others only appear in Malta when members of these families crossed over to the larger island (56).

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Gozo had its own privileged group of local aristocrats and landed nobility. Most of the nobles were of foreign origin; they included the families Puntetremulo (or Pontremoli), La Barba, Navarro, Platamone, de Naso, de Federico, de Sahona, and Mompalao. The landowners included the families Apap, Maira (cf. Amaira), de Anastasio (cf. Anastasi), Caxaro, de Bisconis, Saliba, Episcopo (cf. Piscopo), Mannara, Sansone and Fantino (57).

The catastrophe of 1551 precipitated an almost complete break in the history of Gozo. Virtually the entire population of the island, with the exception of a handful of decrepit men, was enslaved and the surviving evidence shows that most of the prisoners ended their days in Constantinople. Only a few managed to escape or obtain their freedom and even fewer were ever able to return home. Members of the families De Apapis (cf. Apap), de Alagona, Castilletta, Navarra, Platamone, and Pontremoli had the necessary funds to ransom themselves. Some of the names of the captives ransomed as well as those who languished in the Ottoman capital are known to us from notarial deeds and subsequent judicial proceedings.

It can safely be deduced that the persons represented by the names Agueina, Aluisa, Calimera, Cainba, Gerardu, Giarda, Lazu, Lazarun, Marinara, Xaura, Xluc, and Xucula died in captivity since these family names, recorded before 1551, are never encountered again in Gozo or Malta (58). It is therefore understandable that most of the medieval-era family names of Gozo were wiped out. A comparison of the common family names on the island before 1551 with those from a 1664 list of Gozo protesters shows that there is only a 20% overlap (59).

Some of the ransomed slaves sought refuge in Malta, particularly in Valletta and the Three Cities; others settled in Sicily, particularly in Trapani and Licata. Grand Master Juan D'Omedes and his Council initially toyed with the idea of abandoning the island, but there seems to have been a semblance of a return to normality from 1553 onwards. Motivated by the possibility of acquiring real estate abandoned by the unransomed inhabitants of Gozo, many Maltese and some Sicilians (for example de Soltano -- cf Sultana, de Sciacca, Cuchinella, Carnemolla, Parascandalo), began to emigrate to and repopulate the island. The vast majority of emigrants to Gozo, nearly 60%, came from only three main regions of Malta: (a) Naxxar, Mosta, Għargħur; (b) Żebbuġ, Siġġiewi; and (c) Żurrieq, Safi, Qrendi (60).

In this way, common Maltese family names, which were totally absent from pre-1551 Gozo, have persisted on the island to this day, as evidenced by the Status Animarum documents. They include: Agius, Attard, Azzopardi, Bezzina, Borg, Camilleri, Cassar, Ciantar, Cumbo, Debono, Frendo, Gatt, Grima, Mallia, Mangion, Muscat, Pace, Portelli, Psaila, Schembri, Scicluna, Spiteri and Xuereb (61).

Despite the constant influx of new immigrants, it was not until around the middle of the 17th century that the population of Gozo recovered to the 1551 level (five to six thousand). In 1637, the law requiring all inhabitants of Gozo to spend the night in the Castello was repealed and people began to permanently abandon their cramped dwellings inside the walls for more spacious homes in Rabat and the countryside. Eventually, these settlements began to push for autonomy as these rapidly growing communities were far from happy with the way their spiritual needs were being met. Xewkija was erected as a parish in 1678; Gharb followed suit in 1679. When Xagħra, Sannat, Nadur, and Żebbuġ acquired the same status in 1688, Gozo's settlement pattern was officially confirmed (62).

At present, Gozo (population of approximately 31,000) consists of 14 distinct localities — a single town, Rabat, and 13 villages. These can be divided into three groups according to population size. The first group includes Rabat, Nadur, Xagħra and Xewkija, all of which have a population exceeding the 3,000 mark. Next, Għajnsielem, Gharb, Kercem, Qala, Sannat, and Żebbuġ have between 1,000 and 3,000 inhabitants. The population of Fontana, Għasri, Munxar, and San Lawrenz is still below the 1,000 mark. According to the 2005 census, the most common family names in Gozo are: Vella = 1,492 (4.8%), Attard = 1,338 (4.3%), Camilleri = 1,187 (3.8%), Grech = 1,146 (3.7%), and Portelli = 966 (3.1%). The top ten is completed by Buttigieg, Sultana, Azzopardi, Spiteri and Zammit. The absence of Borg from the top five is quite remarkable — it actually ranks 14th and is only significantly present in the top five of the Fontana list. These statistics indicate that 19.7% of the total population of Gozo shares only five names.

Gozo is a microcosm with its own peculiarities and unique distinctive characteristics. The genetic structure of Gozitans is reflected in their family names. Gozo, much more so than Malta, has a very homogeneous population. For a long period of time, there was minimal exchange with the outside world, and until the post-war period, the various villages of Gozo were isolated from one another. Most marriages took place between inhabitants of the same village. This invariably led to a high degree of endogamy, particularly in the smaller villages. A Picture of Gozo: Studies on the Ethnographic, Educational, and Health Aspects of Life in Gozo (Malta, 1998) by Maurice N. Cauchi is undoubtedly the first study to show the relationship between villages measured by surname analysis (63). Some family names (such as Vella and Attard) are ubiquitous and appear at high frequency throughout the island. Others (such as Piscopo, Stellini, and Cini) are limited to one or two villages, probably indicating a founder effect with minimal dissemination. The study of family names of a small island population such as that of Gozo could be of anthropological interest, and may shed light on genetic drifts within a community.

According to Cauchi, the most frequent family names of Gozo are found in most localities. Vella, in particular, is found in the top six of all places, with the exception of Xagħra. Some names are largely limited to one or two particular localities (for example Cini in Żebbuġ; Zerafa in Għajnsielem; Curmi, Debrincat, and Parnis in Munxar; Refalo, Sultana and Bigeni in Xagħra; Camenzuli in Gharb; Meilaq, Falzon, and Muscat in Nadur; Sacco, Bezzina and Scicluna in Rabat; Dingli in Xewkija; Piscopo in Gharb and San Lawrenz; Cefai in Qala and Żebbuġ).

The degree of homogeneity of the population in a locality can be indicated by the proportion of the population sharing a single name. A name can represent anywhere between 6% to 17% of the total population of a village/town. In the villages of Żebbuġ and San Lawrenz the surnames Cini and Grima represent respectively 16.9% and 17.0% of the population, while in Qala and Kercem the surnames Buttigieg and Grech represent respectively 14.1% and 13.7% of the population (64). The top six family names in San Lawrenz, Żebbuġ, and Qala encompass 55.11%, 54.02% and 45.42% of the respective populations, making them the most homogeneous localities in all of Gozo. The least homogeneous localities are Rabat and Għasri where only 28.75% and 28.66% of the population is covered by the six most common names.

Isonymy implies the sharing of the same family name by two persons, and therefore also the proportion at which this occurs. In demographic studies, isonymy is measured by a specific value called alpha, which thus reflects the degree of surname frequency. A high level of alpha would then be expected to directly correlate with the degree of consanguinity. The highest alpha values are found in the small villages, particularly Għasri (disproportionately so), Fontana, Sannat, and San Lawrenz. The lowest values, as expected, are found in Rabat (65).

It is quite interesting to determine the degree to which the most common family names are shared across various localities in Gozo: Buttigieg, Vella and Portelli in Nadur and Qala; Cauchi, Formosa and Vella in Gharb and San Lawrenz; Azzopardi, Vella and Xuereb in Xewkija and Għajnsielem; Vella, Camilleri and Zammit in Rabat and Żebbuġ; Attard, Grech and Vella in Rabat and Għasri (66). This probably indicates a certain degree of mixing occurring in the past between these localities. Some villages appear to be unique in that they do not share a single common family name to any great extent. Among these the most obvious are Fontana and Sannat.

It is quite plausible that a name appeared in one locality (founder effect) and spread from there to various other areas in a radial manner. A highly speculative attempt at explanation is as follows: Portelli and Vella appeared in Nadur and spread to Qala, and from there to Gharb. Buttigieg probably started in Qala and migrated to Nadur, and from there to Għajnsielem. Vella and Camilleri link Nadur to Rabat and from there Żebbuġ. Vella and Xerri link Qala to Xewkija (67). Additional evidence of such migration would be needed to confirm these suggestions.

Notes:

G. Wettinger, 'The History of Gozo from the Early Middle Ages to Modern Time', in C. Cini (ed.), Gozo. The Roots of an Island, Malta: Said International, 1990, p. 58.
Wettinger (1990), p. 56.
S. Fiorini, 'The 1551 Siege of Gozo and the Repopulation of the Island', in J. Farrugia and L. Briguglio (eds), A Focus on Gozo, Gozo: University Gozo Centre, 1996, p. 78.
Wettinger (1990), p. 58.
Fiorini, p. 86. Cf. also G. Wettinger, 'The Gozitan Captives of 1551', in Malta Year Book, Malta, 1977, pp. 427--30.
Fiorini, p. 86.
Cf. J. Bezzina, 'Gozo 1668 -- The Village Communities Confirmed', in MaltaYear Book, Malta, 1988, pp. 391--3.
Cauchi based his population estimates on the figures contained in the Government Gazette of 29/04/1997.
Cauchi, p. 22
Cauchi, p. 30.
Cauchi, p. 27. Note that while Rabat shares three common names with two villages (Għasri and Żebbuġ), the names involved are different, and only the ubiquitous Vella is shared between them.).
Cauchi, p. 47

Text published with the kind permission of Mario CASSAR