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FALZON [3,343 occurences in Malta National Census 2005]

(1) Italian nickname: apocopated form of surname Falzone/i (Falsone),augmen. form (in -one ) of Falso < It. falso false, deceitful, hypocritical[Caracausi], quite unflattering as a family name. Cp. It. Farzone , Falzetta .(2) Italian and French nickname or occupational name: < OF faucon ,

falcun falcon, hawk (ornith.) > Lat. falco (gen. falconis ), either (a) a byname for a fierce, rapacious person; or (b) a metonym for a falconer (It. Falconaro ). Some of the old local forms of this surnames, such as De Falcono , Fauczono and Fauczone , seem to adhere to this derivation.Aquilina [198790] actualy states that etymologically the surname Falzonmay be a dial. phonetic var. of the It. surname Falcone. The term gave riseto the given name (and surname) Falco . It is well known that Frederick II,king of Sicily in 11981250, reared falcons in Malta. Cp. It. Falcone (alsoextant in Malta), Sp. Falcn , Fr. Faucon , Prov. Falcon , Eng. Falcon .

The variant in affricate - z - (for the usual fricative - s-) is typical of southern dialects e.g. in Campania, Alfonzo predominates over Alfonso ,whereas in Sicily Falzone and Sanzone run alongside Falsone and Sansone(q.v.) [De Felice: 1980]. Falsone is typically Sicilian; the far more numerous

Falzone is the second commonest surname in Caltanissetta [C & M]. Fucillainterprests Falzon as a Bolognese surname meaning scythe, sickle,semantically related to other family names such as Falcione , Ranza , and

sometimesSeghezzi . Vassalli actually derives the surname from It. top. (andsurname) Falcione .

Falzon must be one of the oldest surnames recorded in Malta e.g. aGozitan will of 1299 refers to an African slave belonging to PhylippoFalzono of Malta [Wettinger: 2002]. Throughout its history, the Falsonefamily enjoyed a high-ranking position among the Mal. gentry and was oneof the most important families of Late Medieval Mdina. It acquired the beneficies of Djar Chandur (1399), Ta Ganni (in 1431), Ta nien is-Sultan(1471), Bir anira (1505), and Ta Donna Manna (1638) [Montalto, MG].The Status Animarum (diocesan census) of 1687 shows that then 39.5% of all Falzons resided at Qormi [Fiorini: 1984]. 57% of all prsent-day Gozitan

Falzons hail from Nadur [Cauchi]. At present its numbers are further augmented by double-barrelled surnames such asFalzon Fava, FalzonVilora , and Falzon Scerri . Other old forms: Fauzono/i, Falzuni, De

Falzuni, Fauzone, Falson(i), Falzun, Falsun(i), Falczun(i), Falcuni, (De) Fauczone, (De) Fauczonus, Falsono, Fals, Falsonus, Falczono, (De)

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Falzono, De Falzon(e), Falczone, (Di) Falsone e.g. Antonio Falsone (or Fauzone) became tenant of Dyar Chandul in Malta in 1399 [Abela]; De

Falcono e.g. Antonio de Falcono was one of the jurats of Notabile in 1407[Abela]; Fau(c)zuni e.g. Andrea Fauzuni, at Casali Naxaru, 1419 [MilitiaList]; (De) Fauczono (1461); De Falczono (1487); De Falsono (1542); Fals e.g. Isabella Fals, of Gudja, wife of Alexander, died in 1616[Bir Miftu PA].