Where the Moncada surname comes from
Moncada comes from a place: the castle of Montcada, a fortress and village just outside Barcelona, in Catalonia. A great noble house took its name from that castle, tied to the kings of Aragon. The old form was Montcada, and Moncada is the spelling we know.
From Catalonia to Sicily
At the end of the 1200s a branch of the house landed in Sicily, at a decisive moment for the island. The PDF tells what it found there and how far it rose.
Where the Moncada families live today
In Italy there are about 2,000 Moncada, almost all in Sicily. They live mostly in the central and southeastern half of the island, among the provinces of Caltanissetta, Agrigento, Catania and Syracuse. Worldwide there are over a hundred thousand, but most live in the Spanish-speaking Americas. The PDF tells why, and has the region-by-region map.
Variants
Today Moncada has a single stable form. The old forms, Montcada and Montecateno, appear in the old records.
FAQ
What does the surname Moncada mean?
It comes from a place name: the castle of Montcada, near Barcelona, in Catalonia. A great noble house took its name from that fortress, known as the lords of Montcada.
Is Moncada a Sicilian or a Spanish surname?
Catalan by birth and Sicilian by history. In Italy the Moncada are almost all Sicilian. Worldwide most live in the Spanish-speaking Americas, descended from the Spanish branch of the same house.
Why are there so many Moncada in the world?
The name reached the Americas with the Spanish branch of the same old Catalan house and multiplied. Estimates put the Moncada at over a hundred thousand, against about 2,000 in Italy.
Are Moncada and Montcada the same surname?
They share the same origin. Montcada is the old form, and from the Latin records it passes to the spelling Moncada we know today. In old documents the form Montecateno also appears.
Are all Moncada families related?
No. The name also spread among ordinary people on the house’s lands. Those who took it from the castle and its lords were not necessarily descendants.
Is the Moncada surname noble?
The Moncada house was among the most powerful in Sicily, but carrying the surname today does not mean descending from the princes of Paternò. The name also spread among farmers and families in the house’s Sicilian towns.
Is there a Moncada family coat of arms?
The noble house had a famous coat of arms: eight golden discs on a red field. But it was the arms of that princely house, not of everyone who carries the surname.
How do I trace the ancestors of a Moncada?
Start from an exact town in central or southeastern Sicily. In Sicily civil records begin in 1820; before that you use parish registers, kept after the Council of Trent in 1563.
