- Cassar
Cassar is a common Maltese surname.
There are various possible origins of the surname.
It may be traced back to the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , incorporating the island ofSicily itself, the area aroundNaples , and the southern part of the Italian peninsula. The surname Cassar may have derived from the given name "Cesare," and further back from the Roman family name "Caesar." InClassical antiquity , the name "Caesar" was associated by folk etymology with the Latin word "caesaries" (meaning head of hair). The Maltese Cassar coat of arms has the Latin word "SPES" (meaning "hope") inscribed on it.On the other hand it may derive from a fairly common surname in Italy and Sicily: Cassara, or Cassarino, possibly from a nickname "cassaio" meaning "producer of cases".
Others suggest that it originates from Spain under Moorish rule. The Arabic surname Al-Qassar means castle, from the Arabic "al-qasr" (palace, fortress or mansion), compare the Spanish "alcazar" (fortress). However the Spanish version of the surname is 'Casar' not 'Cassar'.One version of the coat of arms is a fortified tower with a
paschal lamb on top holding a flag.From about 800 A.D. to 1090 A.D. both Sicily and Malta were occupied by the Arabs. Control was varyingly exercised from
Tunisia (Sunni Aghlabid s) andEgypt (Shiite Fatimid s). Arab andMuslim culture lingered until the 13th century. Many common Maltese surnames are of Arabic origin, such as Xuereb, Axiaq, Asciak,Abdilla . Casha (or Qasha), Qassar (or Kassar) are common north African surnames.Another possibility is that it comes from the Maltese word "qassar" (barber, literally "a person who cuts short") from "qasir" (short). In old Maltese "q" was pronounced as "q".
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.