Have you ever wondered if the name of your town or village meant something completely different to other people in other parts of the world?

Many names of Maltese and Gozitan localities are unique to our country, but there are others that can be found elsewhere. For example, Rabat, Marsa and Pembroke are names of other towns and villages in other countries – but this is something that was well known.

But there is more than this.

A search on Google established that there are other names of Maltese localities that are popular in other countries – but not necessarily as names of towns and villages.

For example, some could be surnames of people. This did not come as a surprise either, considering that there are several localities that are also common surnames in Malta too. Yet, seeing them in the local phone directory is one thing, and seeing them as names of foreign personalities that are known worldwide is another.

Others could be names of companies, restaurants or, as in the case of Kalkara, a target drone system operated by the Royal Australian Navy.

Lija, for example, is a brand name when it comes to tennis clothing, while Sannat is the name of a music group from Moldova.

The following is a list of the most intriguing “connections” Maltese towns and villages have with the world:

VALLETTA

Amber Valletta is an American actress who was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1974. She has taken part in several films, been on the cover of magazines and in advertisements for big companies such as Calvin Klein, Versace and Louis Vuitton.

Valletta is married to American Olympic volleyball player Christian McCaw, with whom she has a son, Auden. Before this marriage, she dated Leonardo Di Caprio. Her first marriage, in 1994, was to Hervé le Bihan, who she divorced in 1996. In January 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama called “Yes, we can”, along with her son, whom she was holding in her arms.

MDINA

Mdina Italia is a family run business with an increasingly large and more comprehensive spares supply for Ducati motorcycle needs. It is based in West Yorkshire, UK.

ISLA (Senglea)

Isla Lang Fisher, born in 1976, is a Scottish-Australian actress and writer. She began acting on Australian television in the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before taking part in the soap opera Home and Away. She has since been known for her comedic roles in Wedding Crashers (2005), Hot Rod (2007), Definitely, maybe (2008) and Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009).

At the age of 18, with the help of her mother, she published two teen novels, Bewitched and Seduced by Fame.

In 2002 she had a part in the film version of Scooby-Doo as Mary-Jane, Shaggy’s love interest.

ZABBAR

Zabbar Neang is employed with Cambodia Real Estate, a company that, according to its website, can help people find land, houses and apartments to buy or rent in Cambodia. It is based in Phnom Penh.

VICTORIA

There was so much to choose from, obviously, when it came to clicking Victoria on Google. Apart from a company that produces lingerie and women’s clothing, the more famous Victorias came up – for the younger generations, Victoria Beckham topped the list. For the older ones, those who remember the Dallas soap opera, Victoria Principal will evoke good memories.

ATTARD

Attard is the name of a locality and a surname too. In this case, John and Kathy Attard, based in San Diego, California, were the first to come up on the Google list. They have beautiful mineral specimens for sale to collectors, earth science educators and museums. It could be that they are of Maltese descent.

BALZAN

This is another surname that doubles up as a name of a locality. The interesting part is that there is a foundation that is called Balzan too – the International Balzan Prize Foundation, which was set up some 50 years ago by a Lina Balzan in honour of her late father Eugenio.

In these 50 years, the Balzan Foundation has reached the milestone of 100 prize winners. It has given its philanthropic work a new image that is personal and can be recognised on an international level. Its authoritativeness is due to the valour of its prize winners and from its ability to use their example to give life to a virtuous cycle of stimuli to research and to the elaboration of new concepts and experiences that can foster science, culture and the most meritorious humanitarian initiatives in the world.

It is based in Milan and also has an office in Zurich.

DINGLI

The Dingli Machinery Co. Ltd is not based near the cliffs facing Filfla – but in Zhejiang, in China. It is dedicated to the production and research and development of aerial work platforms – in other words, lifts of all sizes, shapes and models.

FLORIANA

Floriana is one of Australia’s largest and most sophisticated suppliers of quality plants to nurseries, garden centres, municipalities, and parks and gardens.

Floriana and Oasis Horticulture merged operations in February 2006 with Oasis continuing to produce Floriana-branded seedlings and potted colour for both home gardeners and amenity horticulturalists.

The extensive Floriana ranges of flower, vegetable and herb seedlings are grown from the finest seed in premium potting mixes to get off to the very best start in life. And that’s what makes them so healthy, and so easy to grow.

Floriana is also a popular name given to girls – Floriana was the name of former Milan player Alessandro Costacurta’s wife, before he left her for Martina Colombari.

FONTANA

Fontana is the name of a city in San Bernardino County, California. Originally a rural town known for an abundance of chicken ranches, hog farms, and citrus and walnut orchards, over the past century Fontana developed rapidly into a major commuter suburb for Los Angeles and other nearby cities, as well as a strategic regional hub of the trucking industry. Its population is around 180,000. There are another four cities in the United States that are called Fontana, two in North Carolina, one in Kansas and the other in Wisconsin.

There are other Fontanas in other parts of the world, such as Argentina and Cape Verde, while it is also a name of a neighbourhood in Belgrade, Serbia. There are also five settlements called Fontana in Switzerland.

GHARB

This small Gozitan village has a similar name to various other villages in countries such as Egypt, Sudan and Morocco. Algarve, in Spain, is also thought to be a derivative of the Arab word that gave its name to Gharb.

GHASRI

It seems that Ghasri is the “place” for doctors – as there is a Dr Peyman Ghasri who is a dermatologist in Long Beach, California and a Dr Poneh Ghasri, who is a dentist based in Los Angeles.

KALKARA

The Kalkara target drone system operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is deployed in support of missile firings, notably trials of AMRAAM and ASRAAM from F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. The jet-propelled Kalkara drone is rocket boosted from the ground and is capable of towing targets and carrying a variety of payloads (eg weapon sensor systems). Kalkara launches are undertaken from Evetts Field at the Woomera Ranghead in Australia. The drones are recovered by parachute at the end of their flights.

Well, nobody would dare fight against a Kalkariz after this revelation.

KIRKOP

This was expected. The name that came up was that of one of the most popular Maltese personalities, tenor Oreste Kirkop, who will be remembered for his leading role in the 1956 film The Vagabond King.

LIJA

Lija is a brand name for leisure wear, most notably tennis outfits. The name was chosen with a play on words – as the brand name is not pronounced the Maltese way, but very similar to the word “leisure”. It is based in the United States, with big markets in the US and Canada.

MARSA

There is a Marsa in Tunisia, with a population of nearly 70,000 residents. Then there is a Marsa Alam, one of the fastest growing holiday resorts in Egypt and a Marsa el Brega, a port in the Gulf of Sidra, northeastern Libya.

This is no surprise considering that the name of Marsa comes from Arabic; what is more intriguing is that there is a Marsa in Romania too, while Marsa KJS is a Turkish producer of vegetable oils, ghee and margarine.

MOSTA

We go back to China, as there is a Mosta Tools, not beneath the dome but in Guangdong. The company researches, manufactures and sells electro-motion tools and accessories. Mosta and Dingli have China in common.

NADUR

There is a Nadur Spa that is situated at the foot of the Kerry Mountains in Ireland, while Nadur Organics is a 100 per cent owned Irish company that produces skin products.

PAOLA

The Paolites should know that there are other communities that are called likewise. For example, there is a Paola in Kansas, California and Florida in the United States, one in Italy, one in New Caledonia and one in Venezuela.

PEMBROKE

Most Commonwealth countries have one or more cities that are called Pembroke – simply because the name was given to the locality where many British citizens resided during their stay abroad, as happened in Malta.

Apart from three Pembrokes in the UK, there is one in Bermuda, one in Australia, three in Canada, one in Ireland and two in New Zealand.

The United States is not part of the Commonwealth, but there are 13 cities called Pembroke in the United States. They are in Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts (two), New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Virginia (two), Florida (two) and Illinois.

PIETA

Pieta is the Italian word for pity, and Michelangelo’s masterpiece quickly came up on the computer when the word was typed in.

QALA

This is another Gozitan village that “copies” other cities elsewhere. There are three villages with the same name in Afghanistan, two in Azerbaijan, one in Iraq, 13 in Pakistan (although here they use Qila, not Qala) and one in Uzbekistan.

RABAT

Rabat is the name of the capital city of Morocco. It has a population of two million – for each Maltese Rabti, there are 166 Moroccan Rabat residents.

SAFI

Safi is another city that has a namesake in Morocco. It has a population of 285,000 – here the proportion is one Maltese Safi resident to 142 Moroccan Safi residents.

SANNAT

Ann Sannat is the name of a Moldovan music group established in 1998. Ann Sannat means “the elves fairy tales”.

Maltese localities that carry the names of saints are not included in this exercise – as one can imagine the number of localities, companies and places that are named after St Julian, St John, St Lawrence, St Paul, Santa Lucia and Santa Venera.

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