Pace (surname)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pace is a surname in both Italian and English. In addition to being found in Italy and England, it is also found in Germany, is very common in Malta, and can be found among Italian and British immigrants in places like the United States. The Pace family are prominent in (particularly) Malta and in Sicily. They held ancient fiefdoms in both countries.
While pronunciation varies according to one's linguistic heritage, the two most common variants are the English "Pace", rhyming with "race", and the Italian "PAH-chay".
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[edit] Origin
There are at least two independent origins of the name Pace, one in Italy and the other in England. Maltese Paces can ultimately trace their name back to Italy while German Paces can ultimately trace their name back to England.
[edit] Italy
Both the Italian and the English surnames share the same Latin root: the Latin word for peace pax. Specifically, "pace" is the dative declension of "pax" in Latin, which in Classical Latin would be pronounced "PAH-kay". The word sees popular usage in Ecclesiastical Latin, which today as in the Middle Ages pronounces it in the Italian manner. "Pace" remains the word for "peace" in Modern Italian.
The Italian Pace is believed to be patronymic, meaning that those with the surname Pace are the descendants of a man with a first name of Pace. Early bearers of this surname would have been bestowed with it because of their calm or reputation as peacemakers, or to those who spread peace in a religious sense. The first references to the surname Pace occur in the 6th and 7th centuries in the forms of Pace, Pacius, Pacinus, and Pax.
Today the surname Pace is concentrated in various regions of Italy and is found all over Italy, especially in Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria, Latium and southern Sicily. In certain places like Pratola Peligna in L'Aquila, Abruzzo, virtually everyone has a relative with the surname Pace and it can take up pages in the phonebook.
The Maltese line of the name comes thanks to the strong Italian influence on that nation. Especially important was the period after October 5, 1350, when Malta was incorporated directly under the Kingdom of Sicily, expanding the number of greatly in Malta. In Malta, the surname is sometimes pronounced as in Italian but other times as "pock".
[edit] England
It is generally accepted that the surname Pace was brought during the Norman Conquest of the Eleventh Century from a French village called Pacy sur Eure. A Norman knight, presumably William de Pacy (who held a castle in Pacy sur Eure), founded a hamlet in Warwickshire known today as Newbold Pacey. The name evolved greatly in England, as is evidenced by the fact that there are at least ten known variants of how Richard Pace was referenced in the Sixteenth Century.
[edit] Germany
Pace as a name does not exist in Germany. German Pace lines are the result of changing a somewhat similar name to Pace after emigrating from Germany to English-speaking countries; the German name paß is the most likely culprit, although some claim to have found evidence suggesting that it was in fact Päez. It is interesting to note that the German verb paßen means to pace.
[edit] Famous Paces
[edit] Italian
- Giulio Pace in 16th and 17th centuries was a professor at the universities of Genoa, Heidelberg and Valencia and played an important role in spreading the surname throughout Italy.
- The Pace family of Udine were ennobled in 1658, receiving the title of count.
[edit] Maltese
- Claudette Pace, Singer/Song Writer
- Jamie Pace, International ootballer
- Laurie Pace, Female Judo Olympian
- Frans Pace, Olympic double trap shooter
- Beppe Pace, Valletta FC Footballer
- Rita Pace, Singer
- Sir. Mgr Sir Pietro Pace, Bishop of Malta, who was responsible for naming the capital of Gozo "Victoria"
[edit] Brazilian
- José Carlos Pace, Formula 1 pilot
[edit] United Kingdom
- Norman Pace, Actor/Comedian
- Richard Pace, Sixteenth-Century Dean of St Paul's Cathedral and Secretary of State under Henry VIII
[edit] American
- Darrell Pace, Double Olympic Archery Gold Medalist
- Lee Pace, Actor
- Orlando Pace, St Louis Rams NFL Star
- Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, of Italian descent
- Richard Pace, Early settler of Jamestown purported to have saved the village from an Indian massacre after having been warned of it by Chanco.
