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Most Maltese have surnames that are still common in Sicily, mostly along the southern coast (Agrigento, Gela, Ragusa, etc) and Palermo. I have said so many times.
Modern Sicilians, being primarily Greek speakers until the Norman rule, would not have had surnames like Camilleri, Faruggia, Vella, Falzon, Portelli, Spiteri, Sacco, etc. until quite recently, i.e. the last 800 years, following the island being Latinized.
Maltese have been speaking the Maltese language (Siculo-Arabic) since the time of Norman rule of Sicily and Malta. These surnames are not Maltese surnames, they are Sicilian; thus they would not have arrived at the same time as the Maltese language did.
So, I would assume that most Maltese people's ancestors came to Malta from Sicily 500-800 years ago, after the island's Latinization.
Who agrees? Or who thinks something else?
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