1. Introduction
2. Some miscellaneous reflections
3. Organization of Maltese family names
4. Hull's theory on the Girgenti colony
5. Early censuses and classification of names
6. The 2005 census and the most common Maltese names
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. Extinct names

Early censuses and classification of names

by Mario CASSAR

In 1240, a report by Frederick II's agent, Giliberto Abate, estimated the number of families living on the islands of Malta and Gozo at 1,119 (35). This is the first known population count in the Maltese islands. The available documents relating to Maltese demographic history in the Middle Ages show that a "Census of Population and Production" was carried out in 1481 (36). Its purpose was to record local production and wheat stocks, as well as to count the consumers. At the time of its publication, it was curiously described as a census of "mouths" and "wheat". The results of this census are not known, but in 1632, a census estimated the number of people living on the islands at 51,750. Table 1 illustrates a series of population figures and estimates dating from the earliest records up to 1842.

Table 1. Population census and estimates up to before 1842

Source: Adapted from the 1957 Census

This table should be read with caution. Contemporary research has demonstrated the need to be extremely careful when using information from early population censuses. Documentation on the medieval history of Malta is scarce and often unreliable when it comes to demographic and social data. It would appear that before the 19th century, the only two reliable sources are the militia lists and parish registers.

The indigenous population of the late Middle Ages in Malta is known, at least for its characteristic names, thanks to the Militia lists of 1419 and the Angara roll of the 1480s. More than three quarters of all surnames recorded in these lists are manifestly of Sicilian origin, most of them still existing in Sicily today. It can be assumed that the 103 names (to be confirmed) with 5 or more occurrences are the most common in the 15th century, and are among the oldest surnames in Malta, and therefore likely to have been in use on the island in the 13th century.

The Militia List of 1419/1420, recorded in "Quaderni Diversi, No. 3" of the Mdina Cathedral Museum, is truly a starting point for the study of the demographic composition of Malta in the late Middle Ages; however, it is also an indispensable source for checking Maltese surnames at this stage of history (37).

A quick examination of the Militia List of 1419/1420 shows that, at least according to available data, the most common surnames in Malta were probably:

• Vella (47)
• Zammit (32)
• Farrugia (30)
• Schembri (29)
• Micallef (27)
• Borg (25)
• Calleja (25)
• Cassar (24)
• Azzopardi (23)
• Bartolo (23)
• Asciak (21)
• Mangion (21)
• Bonnici (20)
• Curmi (20)
• Grech (19)
• Pace (18)
• Camilleri (17)
• Falzon (16)
• Bugeja (16)
• Gauci (16)

Note: The figures in parentheses indicate the number of able-bodied men (between 16 and 60 years old) who were required to serve in the militia.

Four out of five of the most common surnames today (Borg, Vella, Farrugia, and Zammit) were already well represented in the late Middle Ages. The absence of Camilleri from the top ten is somewhat puzzling. Since then, the frequency of Calleja, Bartolo, and Asciaq has decreased considerably; today, they are not even among the top twenty. Only the names Vella, Azzopardi, and Bartolo are unquestionably Italian. The rest are either Semitic language (Zammit, Farrugia, Micallef, Borg, Cassar, Asciaq), or of doubtful origin (Schembri, Calleja).

Among the thirty most frequent patronyms, the ratio between names of Arabic and non-Arabic origin is 14:16 (it being accepted that Galea and Calleja are not Semitic surnames as suggested by Hull and others). Among them, only Micallef and Mifsud appear as local formations. Since the other 28 surnames (93.33%) have, or have had (like Asciak, 1095; Curmi, 1095 and Buhagiar, 1145) a known counterpart in Sicily, it could be that most common Maltese Semitic names are not actually from Sicily, or at least common to both regions. The names Galata and Xara are now extinct in Malta (38).

What emerges from this examination is the equally Sicilian character of many (in fact the majority) of these Maltese Semitic names that were once considered indigenous. Indeed, although Sicily and Malta formed a single socio-cultural bloc during the Saracen period, there is simply no certainty that the first bearers of names like Borg, Zammit, and Farrugia were originally from pre-Norman Malta; on the contrary, it is quite likely that they immigrated to the islands like the first Vella, Pace, and Grech (39). Another consideration in favour of the Sicilian origin of many Maltese-Arabic surnames is the fact that the larger island (Sicily?) not only shares with Malta most of these names, but also retains to this day a large number of Arabic anthroponyms apparently never established in Malta, for example, Buscemi, Cangemi, Macaluso, Taibi, and Gueli. Most Maltese Semitic names may therefore originate from a larger Arab-Sicilian pool (40).

After the Militia List of the 1480s, which adds only a dozen new names from Sicily, the next most complete existing source of Maltese surnames is the Status Animarum or the diocesan census of 1687, now preserved in the Curia Archives in Floriana. The census includes the names, first names, and provenance of 45,288 people and covers all localities except for Naxxar, Gozo, and Valletta of the Greek parish rite (41). The Status Animarum includes all inhabitants dependent on the bishop, excluding members of religious orders and those under the jurisdiction of the Order of St John and the Inquisition, which must represent 5,500 people.

The period 1490-1687 saw the establishment and consolidation of the magisterial regime, and it can be assumed that the dozens of new names, most of which are typical of Vittoriosa (formerly Birgu), Senglea, Cospicua, and Valletta, did not enter Malta before 1530. At least three quarters of these new surnames are Italian, and in most cases from eastern Sicily, suggesting the arrival of settlers from Syracuse, Catania, Messina, and their hinterland. The Status Animarum of 1687 showed this ranking order (42):

1. Borg – 1,629
2. Farrugia – 1,139
3. Camilleri – 1,083
4. Grech – 1,042
5. Vella – 1,034
6. Zammit – 1,017
7. Agius – 858
8. Caruana – 778
9. Mifsud – 756
10. Azzopardi – 724
11. Muscat – 679
12. Bonnici – 666
13. Micallef – 653
14. Galea – 642
15. Schembri – 593
16. Pace – 592
17. Fenech – 581
18. Cassar – 551
19. Sammut – 551
20. Debono – 505
21. Attard – 505

Today's frequency shows that it had already taken shape. Borg was already the most frequent; Camilleri had progressed; Galea, Grech, and Attard, which are of non-Arabic origin. In fact, among the 20 most frequent names in today's ranking, 18 were already present. Only Spiteri and Abela are absent from the 1687 record. The presence of Italian or Sicilian surnames is more pronounced with the addition of Bonnici, Pace, and Debono.

When the troops of the First French Republic invaded Malta in 1798, the Maltese population was over 100,000. The depredations during the French siege of Valletta brought it down to 93,054 (1807 census). This census showed that 31% of the population was concentrated in the surroundings of Valletta and Floriana, according to parish registers. According to a detailed report on the plague of 1813 made by Dr WH Burrell, principal army physician in Malta, the total population was estimated at 111,000.

On 21 March 1842, the first modern census took place in a series of decennial censuses of which the last 2005 census was the 16th. This series was interrupted during the Second World War, as well as in 1977, when, according to the ten-year interval criterion, a census should have been conducted, but was not.

Table 2: Censuses 1842–1995

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. Early censuses and classification of names
6. The 2005 census and the most common Maltese names
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. Extinct names