The story behind Malta’s popular surnames, moving on to the third: Vella

What’s in a name? Well… there’s quite a bit. There’s history and heritage, roots and definition, characteristics that we might associate with a name simply based on our connection to that particular name sake as well as a number of other details that our family name might be synonymous with.

Let's talk about 'vella'. That’s vel-la: a simple name to pronounce but one of the most popular Maltese surnames according to a 2011 census. Indeed, Vella is a family name that carries some serious worth.

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History

According to the great historian Godfrey Wettinger, the surname Vella originates from Abrabic roots. In his journal titled The distribution of surnames in Malta in 1419 and the 1480s, Wettinger also pointed out that in Catalan the word ‘vella’ means old. There is some question as to its Italian link - with the Italian word vela translating to sail - but ultimately this is a theory defunct by the scholar due to its lack of evidence.

Although the great scholar may have been onto something, more recent studies show that an Italian family from Vicenza was named Vella and thus their coat of arms is signified by a sailing boat.

The Maltese adaptation is rather similar but has adopted a slightly modern twist.

Stats

According to the 2011 Census, there were 12,192 people proudly carrying this last name and with the increase of folk on our land there is a slight chance there are a few more Vellas out there.

The greatest amount of Vellas are found in Mellieha with 861 individuals living in the seaside village, as well as Mosta, Birkirkara and St Paul's Bay, with Hal Qormi, Haz-Zabbar, Mgarr, Naxxar and San Gwann to follow. Victoria, Gozo, also hosts 342 Vellas in within its city limits.