[1][3][4] During the Arab occupation the peninsula was called Mu'awiya, which has been taken up in Maltese as Xagħriet Mewwija (uncultivated and undulating heaths).

[5] Valletta, the capital of Malta, is located on the Sciberras Peninsula, as is its suburb Floriana.

[6] Some authors maintain that the name comes from the old Maltese family name Sciberras or Xiberras, who would have owned the land.

[9][10] It is upon this hill that the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Jean Parisot de Valette commissioned the construction of the new city of Valletta in 1566 after the Great Siege of Malta.

[11][12] The name could also be a mispronunciation of the name Shahrbaraz [11][13] which was a noble Persian title given to a ruler who gained Mediterranean access from the Byzantines in the Middle Ages.