Parra History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Spain

The Parra surname derives from the Spanish word "parra," meaning "vine bower," or "trellis;" thus it may have emerged as a topographic name for someone who lived near or tended such plants, or as a habitational name from any of the several places named with this word.

Early Origins of the Parra family

The surname Parra was first found in Granada, in southern Spain.

Early History of the Parra family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Parra research. Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Parra History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Parra Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Parra, Para, Parras, Parreira, Parrilla, Parramon and many more.

Early Notables of the Parra family

Prominent among members of the family

the Parra of Granada

Parra Ranking

In the United States, the name Parra is the 1,898^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Parra is ranked the 1,858^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,304 people with that name. 2

Parra migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Parra Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Domingo de la Parra who settled in Peru in 1578
Isabel de la Parra who arrived in Guatemala in 1593

Parra Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Parra, who landed in New Hampshire in 1630 3

Parra Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Juan DeLa Parra, who arrived in America in 1810 3
Teresa DeLa Parra, who arrived in America in 1816 3
Francis Parra, aged 50, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1829 3
A Parra, aged 28, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1830 3
Andres Parra, aged 25, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1831 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Parra migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 4

Parra Settlers in West Indies in the 16th Century

Diego Parra who immigrated to Dominican Republic in 1537

Contemporary Notables of the name Parra (post 1700) +

Isabel Parra (b. 1939), Chilean singer-songwriter and interpreter of Latin American musical folklore
Nicole M. Parra (b. 1970), American who has been a California State Assemblywoman
José Felipe Parra (1780-1846), Spanish painter, who worked in Valencia
Nicanor Segundo Parra Sandoval (1914-2018), Chilean poet, on four occasions he was proposed for the Nobel Prize in Literature
François Parra, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 5
José Miguel Parra (b. 1972), Dominican Major League Baseball player
Aquileo Parra (1876-1878), Colombian soldier, businessman and political figure, president of Colombia
José Quintero Parra (1902-1984), Venezuelan prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Caracas (1960-1980), made a Cardinal in
Claudio Parra (b. 1945), Chilean pianist
Francisco Parra Duperón (1827-1899), Puerto Rican lawyer and banker, born in Mayagüez, one of the founders of the Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño and the bank's first president from 1895 until 1896

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)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, June 16) FranÃ§ois Parra. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html