Parra
A Romance-language surname meaning “grapevine” or “vine arbor,” often used as a habitational or nickname-based family name.
The #943 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,398 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In Spanish and related Romance languages, parra means a grapevine or a vine trained over a support, especially one grown on a trellis or arbor. The surname is therefore usually taken as descriptive: it may have referred to someone who lived by vines, worked with them, or lived near a notable vine-covered place. The word ultimately comes from Latin roots connected with vine culture in the Iberian world.
History
The name is common in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, and it also appears in older records in France and elsewhere in medieval Europe. Historical surname lists often group Parra with other plant-based names such as Sarmiento and Viñas, reinforcing the sense that it is an inherited name drawn from the landscape. It is now widespread in Latin America and among Hispanic communities in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Parra is one of several Spanish surnames built from vineyard vocabulary, alongside names like Viñas and Sarmiento.
From the historical record
“Tbomai AUe-HEthe. rector oF RiDg. Mead Parra, co, Nort, 1376 : itnd. x. 347. Married— Robert Chamber! lud 1577. i”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances