Serra
A surname usually meaning “mountain ridge” or “saw,” especially common in Catalan, Italian, Spanish, and related Romance-speaking areas.
The #5,674 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,498 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Serra is a Romance surname built on the common word for a ridge, chain of hills, or mountain range. In many Romance languages the same word also means a saw, from the idea of a toothed edge. As a surname it most often began as a place-based name for someone who lived by a ridge or came from a place called Serra, though in some cases it may also have referred to a sawyer or carpenter.
History
The surname is widespread across the western Mediterranean, especially in Catalan- and Italian-speaking regions, and it also appears in Spanish and Portuguese records. Historical documents from Iberia show Serra as a place and family name in medieval usage, and the form is still common today. Because it is short and geographically broad, the surname likely arose independently in several Romance-speaking areas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Catalan, serra can mean both a mountain ridge and a handsaw, which is why the surname can be interpreted in more than one occupational or topographic way.
From the historical record
“Âusi cum desserra Sanaon Dessfirerrai lor amassée ; Par force la gule (1) al liuD, Jà lor serra Tire mostrée. Bén., Chron. de Norm,^ l, 408. Maintenant 11 antre peisson Si se lancent a moult grant foule”
— Noms de famille normands