Where the Malara surname comes from
Malara is a surname with a debated origin: no trade goes by that name. The most accepted theory leads to the Greek melon, the flock. Malara would then be the nickname of a shepherd, in a Calabria with an ancient Greek presence. The PDF describes the two other possible roads, and why they remain open.
A Malara in recent history
On February 20, 2020, in a hospital in Lombardy, a doctor named Malara made a decision the guidelines of the time did not call for. That choice changed Italy’s response to an epidemic. The PDF tells who she is, and who the other Malara who left her mark is.
Where the Malaras live today
Malara is a surname from Calabria: in Italy there are about 810 families. The great majority live in the province of Reggio Calabria, where the surname has been at home for centuries. The symbol town is Motta San Giovanni, perched above the Strait: there it is among the top ten surnames. After Calabria come Piedmont, Lombardy and Lazio, the destinations of 20th-century emigration. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
Malara has a twin, Melara, which the dictionary of Calabrian surnames links to the same Greek word.
FAQ
What does the surname Malara mean?
Its origin is debated. The most followed theory leads to the Greek melon, the flock: Malara would be the nickname of a shepherd. There are two other possible roads, which the PDF describes.
Is Malara a Calabrian surname?
Yes, from the province of Reggio Calabria, where the great majority of Malaras live. The families in Piedmont, Lombardy and Lazio arrived with the migrations of the 1900s.
Are Malara and Melara the same surname?
They are twins. The great dictionary of Calabrian surnames traces both of them back to the Greek word melon, the flock.
Are all Malaras related?
Not necessarily. But the surname is closely tied to the Reggio area: within those towns, those who bear it have a good chance of being related to the others. Many of the northern branches also start from the same towns along the Strait. To find out you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Malara surname noble?
The surname itself does not mean nobility. Most likely it comes from a nickname of ordinary people, and most Malara families never had a coat of arms.
Is there a Malara family coat of arms?
There is no coat of arms that belongs to every Malara. If a Malara family from the Reggio area had its own seal, it belonged to that branch and that household.
Where do you start searching for Malara ancestors?
In Calabria, civil records begin in 1809. To go further back you search the parish registers, which recorded baptisms and marriages from the Council of Trent in 1563.
