Explore the Family Name Sarratt

The meaning of Sarratt

1. Altered form of French Sarot, a variant of Saraud: from the ancient Germanic personal name Sarwald, composed of the elements sar ‘cuirass, armor’ and wald ‘power, authority’. Altered ending reflects the Canadian and American French practice of sounding the final -t. Compare Sarrett, Surratt, and Surrett. 2. English: habitational name from Sarratt (Hertfordshire), perhaps from an otherwise unattested Middle English saret, seret, siret ‘dry place’. 3. English: from a pet form (with the diminutive suffix -et, -ot) of the Middle English female personal name Sarre (see Sara). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the name may sometimes have been altered to Syrett. 4. English: possibly from the rare Middle English personal name Saret, Seret (Old English Sǣrǣd, from sǣ ‘sea’ + rǣd ‘counsel’). Its survival as a hereditary surname, however, is unknown. 5. English: variant of Syrett. 6. English: possibly a variant of Sherrard. History: The progenitor of the majority of the American Sarratts was Joseph Jacques Sarratt from France, who settled in Prince George’s County, MD, toward the end of the 17th century. His father’s surname was Sarot, while his descendants also bear surnames Sarrett, Surratt, and Surrett.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.