Serra History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Spain

Noble surnames, such as Serra, evoke images of the ancient homeland of the Spanish people. The original bearer of the name Serra, which is a local surname, once lived, held land, or was born in the beautiful region of Spain. In Spain, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules and during the late Middle Ages, names that were derived from localities became increasingly widespread. Local names originally denoted the proprietorship of the village or estate. The Serra family originally lived near a ridge or chain of hills. The name was originally derived from the Old French word Serre, but it was recorded in medieval documents in the Latin form Serra, which means ridge.

Early Origins of the Serra family

The surname Serra was first found in Castile, the medieval Spanish kingdom whose language and culture were to spread to many countries of the world.

Early History of the Serra family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Serra research. Another 128 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1274, 1420 and 1749 are included under the topic Early Serra History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Serra Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Serrano, Serrana, Serra and others.

Early Notables of the Serra family

Notable bearers of the family name Serra

were brothers Jaime, Juan and Pedro Serra, fourteenth century painters
Juan de Serrano, prior of Guadalupe in the 1420s
friar Junípero Serra, a Franciscan originally from Mallorca who went to New Spain as a missionary in 1749, and founded many missions in what is now California
Francisco Serrano y Domínguez, nineteenth century Spanish military and political figure
nineteenth century Colombian jurist and general Fernando Serrano
nineteenth century Spanish dramatist Narciso Serra

Serra Ranking

In the United States, the name Serra is the 6,578^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Serra is ranked the 695^th most popular surname with an estimated 6,938 people with that name. 2

Serra migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Serra Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Felix Serra, aged 18, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1803 3
Buenaventura Serra, aged 47, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1803 3
Ventura Serra, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1823 3
Antonio Serra, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1826 3
Carlos Serra, aged 17, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Serra (post 1700) +

Richard Serra (1939-2024), American minimalist sculptor
Tomás Llorens Serra (1936-2021), Spanish art historian, museologist and director of Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (1986–1988), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (1988–1990) and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (1991–2005)
Jaime dos Santos Serra (1921-2022), Portuguese politician, Member of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal (1976-1985)
José Serra (b. 1942), Brazilian politician
Barbara Serra (b. 1975), Italian-born British-based journalist and TV newsreader
Florent Serra (b. 1981), French male tennis player
Luciana Serra (b. 1946), Italian soprano
Diana Serra Cary (1918-2020), known as Baby Peggy, a major American silent movie era child star who made over 150 shorts for Century Studios and received 1.2 million fan letters in 1922, dubbed "The Million Dollar Baby" for her 1.5 million a year salary in 1924

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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)