Fer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Italy
Portugal

Venice, one of the oldest and most beautiful island regions of Italy, is the esteemed birthplace of numerous prominent families, including the family that bears the surname Fer. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent. The process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames was not complete until the modern era, but the use of hereditary family names in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries. Italian hereditary surnames were developed according to fairly general principles and they are characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. Although the most common type of family name found in Venice is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's givenname, names derived from occupations are also found. Occupational surnames, which are less common than other types of surnames in Italy, date back to the feudal era. However, under the Feudal System, occupational names did not become hereditary until the offices themselves became hereditary. It was only after an occupation was inherited by several generations in lineal descent that occupational names came to be applied to entire families, and so became a hereditary surname. The surname Fer comes from the Latin word ferro which means iron. The family likely were blacksmiths.

Early Origins of the Fer family

The surname Fer was first found in Modena (Etruscan: Mutna; Latin: Mutina; Modenese: Mòdna), where records can be found in 1271 of the Ferrari family living there at the Villa Mugnano.

Saint Vincent Ferrer, OP (1350-1419) was a Valencian Dominican friar and preacher, who gained acclaim as a missionary and a logician. He is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church and other churches of Catholic traditions. His feast day is April 5th.

Early History of the Fer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fer research. The years 1471, 1480, 1499, 1508, 1530, 1546, 1584, 1603, 1653, 1655, 1662, 1681, 1850 and 1865 are included under the topic Early Fer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fer Spelling Variations

There are many variations of most of those Italian names that originated in the medieval era. Some of these come from regional differences, like the tradition of ending northern names in "o" and southern names in "i". Others come from inaccuracies in the recording process, which were extremely common in the eras before dictionaries standardized spelling. Some of the spelling variations of Fer are Ferraro, Ferrari, Ferrario, Ferraris, Ferrai, Ferrero, Ferrarese, Ferreri, Ferrèri, Ferreli, Ferriero, Ferrieri, Ferrerio, Fevrero, Fevriero, Ferrer, Fer, Ferr, Fare, De Ferrari, Deferrari, Defferrari, De Ferraris, Ferrarello, Ferraretto, Ferrarini, Ferrarin, Ferrarotti, Ferrarone, Ferraron and many more.

Early Notables of the Fer family

Prominent among members of the family was

Giovanni Matteo Ferrari, a doctor in Grado and the court physician to Francesco Sforza
Bartolomeo Ferrari was an ecclesiastic in Milan who studied law before dedicating his life to the church in 1499
Gaudenzio Ferarri (1471-1546), an Italian painter
Antonio Ferrero (died 1508), an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal
Lodovico Ferrari was a famous mathematician in Bologna in 1530
Benedetto Ferrari of Reggio (1603-1681) was a composer and in 1653 to 1662 was maestro of the chapel to the Duke of Modena
Giovanni Baptista 1 Ferrari (1584-1655), an Italian Jesuit and professor in Rome, a botanist, and an author of illustrated botanical books and a Latin-Syrian dictionary
Carlo Ferrari of Piacenza was a famous cellist and composed many sonatas and quartets during the early 18th century
Domenico Ferrari, also of Piacenza at this time, was an internationally renowned violinist and published 6 sets of violin sonatas
Carletta Ferrari of Lodi, was a famous woman composer around 1850
Gabriella Ferrari, a pianist and composer at this time

Fer Ranking

In France, the name Fer is the 5,414^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,000 - 1,500 people with that name. 2

Fer migration to the United States +

In the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Fer were found:

Fer Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Francois Fer, who settled in Louisiana in 1720
Joh Bernhart Fer, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1746

Fer Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Eugene A. Fer, who settled in Philadelphia in 1817

Citations +

Battista di Crollalanza, Giovanni, Dizionario Storico-Blasonico 3 vols. Pisa: Arnaldo Forini Editore, 1886. Print
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/