1. Introduction
2. Some miscellaneous reflections
3. Organization of Maltese family names
4. Hull's theory on the Girgenti colony
5. First censuses and classification of names
6. The 2005 census and the most common Maltese surnames
7. The pantheon of Maltese family names
8. Frequency by location
9. An overview of Gozo
10. The parallel 'Australian' sample
11. Cognates and doublets
12. Multiple names
13. Disappeared names

The 2005 census and the most common Maltese surnames

by Mario CASSAR

After a census decree was issued in 2005, a population and housing census was carried out between 21 November and 11 December 2005, with 27 November 2005 as census day. It was the 16th census since the first modern one in 1842. It provides an overview of the socio-demographic profile of the population in the early years of the 21st century. In addition to providing the usual data on population figures and a wide range of statistical reports concerning housing, migration, economic activity and health, the census provides useful information on the frequency and distribution of Maltese surnames.

Between 1842 and the last census of 2005, the population of Malta multiplied by 3.5, from 114,499 persons to 404,962 (200,819 males or 49.6% to 204,143 or 50.4%). Furthermore, while the population increased by more than 60% between 1842 and 1901, it more than doubled since the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, since the 1901 census the population has increased 2.2 times. In 1995, the population stood at 378,132. It has since increased by 26,830 persons, 13,983 males and 12,847 females. 139,583 households were recorded.

As expected, not all persons enumerated in the 2005 census are Maltese citizens. But even the concept of citizenship must be nuanced in relation to the notion of nationality. The European Convention on Nationality of 1997 – nationality (as a synonym of citizenship) is defined as "the legal bond between a person and a State and does not indicate the person's ethnic origin". The Constitution of Malta then declares that someone becomes a citizen of Malta either because he/she is or was born in Malta or because he/she was born to a Maltese migrant abroad (43). The Constitution also provides for the acquisition of citizenship by naturalization or assimilation.

On a district basis, the Northern Harbour district (which includes Birkirkara, St Venera, Qormi, Pietà, Ħamrun, Ta 'Xbiex, Sliema, Msida, San Ġwann, Gżira, Saint Julien, Swieqi, Pembroke) is the most densely populated. In fact, 119,332 persons, or 29.5% of the population, live in this area. In terms of population size, the smallest number of people live in Gozo and Comino with 31,007 inhabitants, or 7.7% of the population. The largest population increase, both in terms of numbers and proportion, occurred in the Northern district (which includes Mellieha, Mosta, Naxxar, St Paul's Bay, Għargħur, and Mġarr). While the population was estimated at 44,852 in 1995, it reached 57,167 in 2005, an increase of 27.5%. In 2005, residents living in this district represented 14.1% of the population. The number of people in the Southern Harbour district (which includes Vittoriosa, Cospicua, Senglea, Fgura, Kalkara, Floriana, Luqa, Marsa, Paola, Santa Lucia, Tarxien, La Valette, Xghajra, and Żabbar) continued to decline. While the population was 83,234 in 1995, it dropped to 81,107 in 2005, a decrease of 2.6%.

There was a slowdown in population growth. In the 1995-2005 period, the population increased by 6.9%, compared to 9.5% in the 1985-1995 period. The average age of the Maltese population was 39 years in November 2005, up from 1985 when it was 36 years and 34 years in 1985. The census also indicated a steady decline in the number of children and a marked increase in the number of elderly persons, reflecting an aging population.

Birkirkara, with a population of 21,858, remained the most populated locality in Malta. It was followed by Mosta with a population of 18,735 and Qormi with a population of 16,559. The smallest locality was Mdina with 278 inhabitants, followed by Għasri (418 inhabitants) and San Lawrenz (598 inhabitants). La Valette lost 947 inhabitants since 1995, a decrease of 13% of its population. With 3,083, the population density in Senglea was 19,293 per km². At the national level, there was an average of 1,281 persons per km² (1,517 persons per km² for Malta and 452 per km² for Gozo). This means that Malta remains the most densely populated country in the European Union (44).

The 2005 census records 12,310 different surnames, an average of 33 persons for each name (45). This is obviously just a curiosity since the frequency of top-ranking names is counted in thousands, while some surnames in Malta are limited to only three, two, or even one person. Double names and cognate forms with spelling differences (such as Sciriha / Xriha, Sciberras / Sceberras, Mugliette / Muliett, etc.) were treated as distinct names. The 20 most common surnames in Malta are:

Those bearing the most common surnames in Malta, when grouped together, constitute a significant proportion of the entire population. Borg is the most common surname, making up 3.3% (47). The top five names (Borg, Camilleri, Vella, Farrugia, and Zammit), with a total of 59,597, represent 14.72% (48). The top ten (with the addition of Galea, Micallef, Grech, Attard, and Spiteri) total 99,516 or 24.57%. The top 20 (additionally Cassar, Azzopardi, Mifsud, Caruana, Muscat, Agius, Schembri, Abela, Fenech, and Pace) make up 39.04% (158,106 persons); the top 25 represent 43.96% (178,018 persons); the top 50 constitute 61.46% (248,913 persons); and finally the top 100 represent 76.02% (307,886 persons). This means that nearly a quarter of Malta's population shares only ten surnames, and that the top 100 surnames represent more than three quarters of the entire population. The other 23.98% (97,076 persons) share the remaining 12,210 names.

In the 2005 census, only the top four surnames exceeded the 10,000 mark, and the fifth (Zammit) was very close to reaching that figure. The thirteenth surname (Mifsud) already represents half of the most common. Hundreds of surnames are borne by only a handful of people, sometimes by a couple or even by a single person. The census showed 6,233 surnames with a frequency of 1; 1,947 with a frequency of 2; 984 with a frequency of 3; and 702 with a frequency of 4. These are ephemeral names and some of them will certainly not be present at the next census (2015). The total constituted 9,866 surnames, meaning that only 2,444 names (out of a total of 12,310) have a frequency of five or more.

Other statistics on name frequency in 2005:

Text published with the kind permission of Mario CASSAR

1. Introduction
2. Some miscellaneous reflections
3. Organization of Maltese family names
4. Hull's theory on the Girgenti colony
5. First censuses and classification of names
6. The 2005 census and the most common Maltese surnames
7. The pantheon of Maltese family names
8. Frequency by location
9. An overview of Gozo
10. The parallel 'Australian' sample
11. Cognates and doublets
12. Multiple names
13. Disappeared names