Sarris Surname History

Origins Available:
Ireland
England

Ireland already had an established system of hereditary surnames when the Strongbownians arrived. Often the two traditions blended together quite well due to some of their basic similarities, but the incoming Anglo-Norman system brought in some forms that were uncommon amongst the Irish. One of these Anglo-Norman anomalies was the prevalence of local surnames, such as Sarris. Local names were taken from the names of a place or a geographical feature where the person lived, held land, or was born. Originally, the place names were prefixed by de, which means from in French. This type of prefix was eventually either made a part of the surname if the place name began with a vowel or was eliminated entirely. The local surnames of these Strongbownian invaders referred to places in Normandy, or more typically England, but eventually for those Anglo-Normans that remained in Ireland, the nicknames referred to places or geographical features of the island: they became true local names. The Sarris family appears to have originally lived in either of the settlements named Sarnesfield in the English counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The surname Sarris belongs to the large category of Anglo-Norman habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. The Gaelic form of the surname Sarris is Sáirséil.

Early Origins of the Sarris family

The surname Sarris was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they were granted lands by Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, for their assistance in the invasion of Ireland in 1172. Another reference claims "the first of the family of Sarsfield who settled in Ireland is said to have been Thomas de Sarsfield. 'chief banner-bearer' to King Henry II., AD 1172." 1

Early History of the Sarris family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sarris research. Another 142 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1300, 1528, 1570, 1598, 1636, 1648, 1660, 1678, 1681, 1687, 1693 and 1701 are included under the topic Early Sarris History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sarris Spelling Variations

During an investigation of the origin of each name, it was found that church officials and medieval scribes spelled many surnames as they sounded. Therefore, during the lifetime of a single person, a name could be spelt numerous ways. Some of the spelling variations for the name Sarris include Sarsefield, Sarnesfield, Sarsfield, Sharisfield, Sarisfield, Sarisfell, Sarsfell, Sarnesfell and many more.

Early Notables of the Sarris family

Notable amongst the family up to this time was Jenet Sarsfield, Baroness Dunsany ( c.1528-1598 ), an Irish noblewoman from County Meath, memorable for having six husbands; Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield (c. 1570-1636), Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, but was removed from office for corruption and died in disgrace; William Sarsfield, 2nd Viscount Sarsfield (d. 1648); David Sarsfield, 3rd Viscount Sarsfield (d. 1687); and Dominick Sarsfield, 4th Viscount Sarsfield (d. 1701) Patrick Sarsfield (c. 1660-1693), the first Earl of Lucan, an Irish Jacobite...
Another 85 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sarris Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sarris Ranking

In the United States, the name Sarris is the 16,371^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Sarris migration to the United States +

A great number of Irish families left their homeland in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, migrating to such far away lands as Australia and North America. The early settlers left after much planning and deliberation. They were generally well off but they desired a tract of land that they could farm solely for themselves. The great mass of immigrants to arrive on North American shores in the 1840s differed greatly from their predecessors because many of them were utterly destitute, selling all they had to gain a passage on a ship or having their way paid by a philanthropic society. These Irish people were trying to escape the aftermath of the Great Potato Famine: poverty, starvation, disease, and, for many, ultimately death. Those that arrived on North American shores were not warmly welcomed by the established population, but they were vital to the rapid development of the industry, agriculture, and infrastructure of the infant nations of the United States and what would become Canada. Early passenger and immigration lists reveal many Irish settlers bearing the name Sarris:

Sarris Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Camilo Sarris, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1860 3

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)