In Malta, many village names are identical to certain family
names, as in Attard and Lija. It is believed by some, therefore, that the
village inherited its name from a Sicilian family whose family name was Balzan
(or Balzano). Other historians claim that ‘balzan’ refers to a Sicilian tax
collector that could have come to Malta to collect taxes for his Sicilian
feudal master. This tax collector could have resided in Balzan thus giving the
village its present name.
