Serrano
A Spanish surname meaning “someone from the mountains” or “a highland native.”
The #429 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,063 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Serrano comes from Spanish serrano, meaning “mountain dweller” or “person from a sierra (mountain range).” It is related to sierra, “mountain range,” ultimately from Latin serra, “saw,” so the image is of a jagged, saw-toothed ridge. In surname use, it originally identified someone who lived in, or came from, a mountainous district.
History
The name is common in the Spanish-speaking world and was already recognized in 19th-century Spanish surname lists as a regional or locational byname. Like many Iberian surnames, it could begin as a label for origin before becoming hereditary. It is especially widespread in Spain and Latin America, where Spanish naming traditions carried it across the Atlantic.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root behind Serrano is also the source of Spanish words for things that are “saw-shaped,” because sierra originally evoked a serrated mountain line.
From the historical record
“Serrador. Aserrador. ) Serrano. El que habita en una sierra o ha nacido en ella. Serrato. Músculo que tiene dientes a modo de sierra. Seviros. Nombre de los sacerdotes de Augusto o Augus- tales; comandantes de los escuadrones de caballeria”
— Diccionario de los apellidos