Zaia
The surname ZAIA (or ZAJA) was introduced to Lipari by Giovanni Zaia (c.1630-1705) who came from the town of Naso, Sicily. He married Francesca Cusumano of Lipari around 1651 and they had nine children. Giovanni is also noted with the surname Vinci in some records (but not to be confused with another, unrelated family, who had the surname Vinci). The surname Zaia is essentially a surname on Lipari with a couple of instances elsewhere on the archipelago but they were originally from Lipari. All descend from Giovanni’s son Cuono Zaia and then via his own three sons, viz. Domenico, Giovanni and Antonino Zaia.
The surname ZAIA is said to have its origin in either:
(1) the Sicilian word Sàia, which derives from the arabic Sāqiyah, meaning a canal for irrigation,
(2) the Hebrew name Isaiah, or
(3) possibly the Arabic Sayyāġ, a jeweller.
(Where the surname occurs in northern Italy, the surname is given an alternative origin relevant to that region.)
The distribution of the surname ZAIA in Italy.
(Source: GENS, http://gens.info, search “Zaia”)
The Zaia of Isole Eolie, Italy: Family Tree Chart.
Sources:
Caracausi, Girolamo. Dizionario Onomastico della Sicilia. Palermo: Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani, 1993.
Staccioli e Cassar. Dizionario dei cognomi italiani di origine araba. Ospedaletto-Pisa: Pacini Editore, 2017
Distribution map for Zaia: GENS, http://gens.info, search “Zaia”, March 2022.
Family Tree chart: Researched and prepared by Joe Russo, © 2022.
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