Carrera
A surname from a Romance word for a road, track, or course—so the name can point to a place near a road or to someone associated with a route or journey.
The #2,203 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,675 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Carrera comes from a Romance word meaning a road, track, or course. In Spanish, Italian, Catalan, and Occitan, related forms could name a street or a route, and in surnames this often became a place-based identifier for someone who lived by such a road or came from a place so named. The broader sense of "career" in English also comes from the same Latin root, originally referring to a running course or road.
History
The surname appears in medieval Iberian records and later in Spanish-speaking regions, where it is preserved in the same form as the everyday noun. It is also found in other Romance-language areas, where similar forms such as Carrère or Carrera could arise independently from the same word root. In some cases, bearers may descend from topographic bynames rather than from a single family origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The English word "career" is a distant cousin of this surname, both tracing back to the idea of a road or running course.
From the historical record
“Carrer. Charron {Karrer, Bret.). Carrera, Carrère. Rue (oc). Carrèrechique. Petite rue (oc). Carroy. l" Place, rue (oil); 2" forme de Caroy.”
— Dictionnaire des noms (French surnames)