SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Alia

Origin and meaning

V. Blunda and N. Bergamo differ on the origin of the surname.

Blunda, for the Sicilian variant, derives it from the Arabic etymon āliyah ("high, elevated"), the feminine version of a root analogous to Alì. He notes that Alia is also a municipality in the Palermo area whose name has the same origin.

Bergamo, on the other hand, proposes a Greek origin, from the term hals, meaning "fisherman, sailor".

Geographic distribution: Sicily

📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)

Drawing on 2 authors, this entry presents the different hypotheses about the origin of the surname, avoiding a single oversimplified explanation.

Sources

This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:

  • Bergamo, N. (2013, May 21). Impero Romano d'Oriente 330–1453 la sua storia. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.imperobizantino.it/
  • Blunda, V. (2018). Supposte origini dei cognomi in Sicilia [Digital edition]. Retrieved from https://www.trapaninostra.it