The Barca family originated in Phoenecia along the eastern Mediterranean and settled in North Africa, in the city of Carthage. The surname, which means "lightning", is related to the Arabic word "barq" and the Canaanite and Hebrew word "Baraq" (hmmm, where have we heard that name before?). The most famous member of this family was the elephants-over-the-Alps Hannibal Barca; the given name means "grace of Ba'al". More about the family at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcid . They spread to Spain, where they founded a city named after Carthage, Cartagena, after which in turn a city in the New World is named. The Romans meant to destroy Carthage in the Punic Wars ("Delenda est Carthago!"), but a recent DNA study discussed at http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2008/10/phoenician_dna.php#commentsArea suggests that they did not entirely succeed: as Genghis Khan sired many, many children in Asia, the Barcas were similarly prolific in the Mediterranean. -- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)
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