Cassar is a Maltese surname. According to Maltese linguist Mario Cassar, the surname is of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

origin, and derives from the Muslim period of Malta. there are also various other proposed origins of the surname.: * It may be traced back to the

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, incorporating the island of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

itself, the area around

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, and the southern part of the

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peninsula. The surname Cassar may have derived from the given name "Cesare," and further back from the Roman family name "Caesar." In

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, the name "Caesar" was associated by folk etymology with the Latin word "caesaries" (meaning head of hair). The Maltese Cassar coat of arms has the Latin word "SPES" (meaning "hope") inscribed on it. * It may also derive from a fairly common surname in Italy and Sicily: Cassara, or Cassarino, possibly from a nickname "cassaio" meaning "producer of cases". However these surnames may also be derived from the given name "Cesare" or "Caesar". The most important representatives of the family are the Cassar Desain, marchese de Sain in Malta and the Cassar Torregiani, one of the richest family in the 19th century in Malta.

References

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Bibliography

*https://web.archive.org/web/20100521194935/http://www.searchmalta.com/surnames/cassarde-sain/index.shtml *https://web.archive.org/web/20100107034828/http://user.orbit.net.mt/fournier/cassar_torregiani.htm Surnames Maltese-language surnames