SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Badala

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that Badalà is a Sicilian surname of Arabic origin, derived from the personal name Abd Allah, meaning "servant of God".

E. Rossoni places it in the Catania area and derives it from the medieval name Badalà, a variant of the more common Vadalà, an Italianisation of the Arabic name Abd Allah ("servant of God").

V. Blunda presents it as one of the most widespread Sicilian surnames of Arabic origin among the compounds with ‘abd ("servant"). He derives it from the etymon ‘abd allah, meaning "servant of God", one of the most widespread Arabic personal names in the entire Islamic world.

It is also held that it is a southern surname, derived from a metathesis of the letter B of the word àbd allàh, "the servant of Allah".

Variants

Geographic distribution: Specific to the Catania area, particularly Acireale

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

Drawing on 3 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:

  • Rossoni, E. (2002). Origine e storia dei cognomi italiani. Retrieved from https://www.cognomiitaliani.org
  • Forum. (2016, December 6). [Forum post on surnames or related content]. Amare un musulmano. https://amareunmusulmano.forumfree.it/?t=73383355
  • Blunda, V. (2018). Supposte origini dei cognomi in Sicilia [Digital edition]. Retrieved from https://www.trapaninostra.it