Find out how popular the last name Serrao is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Serrao.

Serrao, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Serrao surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Serrao in America

Serrao is the 23750th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Serrao surname appeared 1,065 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Serrao.

We can also compare 2010 data for Serrao to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Serrao

The surname SERRAO has its origins in Portugal, where it first appeared in the late 13th century. It is believed to have been derived from the Portuguese word "serra," meaning "mountain range" or "saw," suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a mountain range or worked as a sawyer.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SERRAO can be found in the Livro Velho de Linhagens (Old Book of Lineages), a Portuguese genealogical work from the 13th century. This manuscript mentions a nobleman named Gonçalo Serrao, who lived during the reign of King Afonso III (1248-1279).

In the 15th century, the explorer Francisco Serrao (c. 1470-1521) became one of the first Europeans to reach the Maluku Islands, also known as the Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia. He played a crucial role in establishing Portuguese control over the region's lucrative spice trade.

Another notable figure with the surname SERRAO was the Portuguese historian João de Barros (1496-1570), who wrote extensively about the Portuguese exploration and colonization of Asia and Africa. His work, Décadas da Ásia (Decades of Asia), is considered a seminal work of Portuguese historiography.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the SERRAO name spread throughout Portugal's colonial empire, with families bearing the surname settling in regions such as Brazil, India, and East Timor. One example is the Portuguese-Brazilian explorer and navigator Antônio Pereira Serrao (c. 1590-1664), who was instrumental in the exploration and settlement of the Amazon region.

In the 18th century, José Corrêa da Serra (1750-1823), a Portuguese priest, philosopher, and botanist, gained recognition for his contributions to the field of plant taxonomy. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in London and served as the Portuguese ambassador to the United States.

While the SERRAO surname is most prevalent in Portugal and its former colonies, it can also be found in other parts of the world, reflecting the global reach of Portuguese exploration and migration over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Serrao

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Serrao.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Serrao was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Serrao has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Serrao was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Serrao, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!