Coat of arms of the Azzopardi family

Azzopardi (Italian pronunciation: [attsoˈpardi]) is a rare Italian surname of Lombardic origin, naturalized in Malta and to a lesser extent in Greece and France.[1]

Distribution

The name is documented in Malta in the forms Azupardu, Azuparda (in the 1419 militia list), Aczupard, Zupard (1480 militia list), Azzupard, Azzoppardo, Azzopardo, Azzopardi, Azzoppardi, Zoppardo, Zopardo (in the Status animarum – church census – of 1687). It still occurs in Northern Italy in the form Azzopardo (mainly in the Julian Venetia), in Sicily in the forms Zuppardo and Zuppardi, and in Corfu as Atsopárdis (Ατσοπάρδης).

Etymology and history

It derives from a combination of the Italian names of Lombardic origin Azzo, meaning 'noble', and Pardo, originally the name of a Germanic tribe (the Bardi);[2] Surnames including Azzo are likely related to the Germanic hadu ('war, battle'), or to atha, atta ('father').[3]

An alternative, disreputed etymology considered the name derived from the Greek sói (σόι, 'race') and párdos (πάρδος, 'panther'), as "fighter of the Saracens" – often referred to as the "Panther race".[4]

Azzopardi is sometimes listed among the names of the Jewish Italkim community, however there are few sources to support this, with a supposed etymology from the word sefardi. As the name is attested (as Azupardu) in Malta's Militia list as early as 1419–1420,[5] before the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Portugal and Malta, it is unlikely that its etymology may be related to sefardi. According to Godfrey Wettinger, "Some would regard Azzopardi as ethnic, associating it with the word Sephardic referring to an Oriental Jew, but the separate existence of Accio and Pardo as surnames in the twelfth century counsels caution in reaching premature conclusions."[6][7][8]

The name was introduced in Northern Italy by one or more Christian settlers from Sicily some time between the 13th and the 15th century, as attested in the name Ogerius Açopardus, borne by a Genoese notary of the 13th century.[9]

People

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Know an Azzopardi? A look into the origins of this popular Maltese surname". GuideMeMalta.com. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  2. ↑ De Felice, Emidio (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani (in Italian). Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori. p. 64.
  3. ↑ Bongioanni, Angelo (1928). Dizionario dei nomi e cognomi italiani (in Italian).
  4. ↑ Rossoni, Ettore. L'origine dei cognomi Italiani: storia ed etimologia (in Italian).
  5. ↑ Wettinger, Godfrey. "The Militia List of 1419-20. A new Starting Point for the Study of Malta's Population".
  6. ↑ Wettinger, Godfrey (1999). "The Origin of the Maltese Surnames" (PDF). Melita Historica. xii (4): 333–344.
  7. ↑ Ogerius Açopardus figures among witnesses to a notarial deed in Genoa on 4 August 1201; see de Guiberto, Giovanni (1200–1211). "Doc. 350 in vol. I". In M. W. Hall-Cole (ed.). Notai liguri del secolo XII (in Italian). Vol. V. Genoa. p. 173.
  8. ↑ For Accio see: "Doc. 44, giugno 1197". Fonti per la Storia d'Italia: Codice diplomatico della Repubblica di Genova. Vol. III. Rome. 1942. p. 120. Azo Rovedus, Azo Borel{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link); and "Doc. 50, 27 agosto 1198". in ibid., pp. 131–132. "Azo de Pangiano, Azo, Salvaticus, Azo Rovedus, and Azo de Avolasca".
  9. ↑ "SearchMalta.com". SearchMalta.com. 8 January 2008. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
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