Submitted by Manuel Psaila
Any person whose surname is ZERAFA must be proud of it as the generation of ZERAFA always was one of the best generations ever before and that there are a few thousands of people today which carry the surname of ZERAFA.
The genearation of ZERAFA were nobles or famous people as the stars represent the nobility.
Submitted by Charles Zerafa
Zerafa most likely originates from the latin word "seraf" meaning "to burn".
Seraf is the root word for seraphim (one of the choirs of angels in heaven)
Submitted by Jason Andrew Zerafa
According to Joseph Aquilina ("Papers in Maltese Linguistics", chapter 8,
page 184 -
The University of Malta 1988),
the surname Zerafa,
which is a semitic (Arabic), means giraffe.
Submitted by Nidal Shawish
I was pleased to find the name Zerafa in Malta, but not in the least surprised. I have been looking for an origin for my own name, Serfaty, (also spelled Sarfaty by some others).
I found that in 965BC the city of Zarafa or Zarafat was handed over by Solomon King of Judah to Hiram King of Tyre together with some 20 other towns as a payment for the construction of Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem by the labour and expertise, and material provided by King Hiram. This is reported in Kings 1, and by Flavius Josephus writing in AD79. It is therefore possible that people with the name of the town, "Zarafas" "Zerafats" or "Zerafats" or "Zerafas" could have sailed the western mediterranean with the Phoenicians - as the Greeks called them - (Canaanites from the land of Canaan, Tyrrhians from the city of Tyre) at any time after 965BC.
Hiram King of Tyre presided over one of the cities of the Phoenicians (the Canaanites), who were visitors to, and perhaps occupiers of, or settlers in Malta from before 2000 BC until the fall of the eastern Phoenician cities to Xerxes and the rise at sea, in their place, of the Phoenicians' western port, Carthage.
This information gives you a possible and very ancient origin of many of our "ZRF" or "SRF" family names.
Until their introduction into the Greek language about 500 BC there were no vowels in any language, so debate about the exact spelling is not relevant before that time.
Meaning of the name:
According to my source, in Aramaic Zara means "beauty" and Afa means "distance" so ZRF or Zarafa means a "beautiful distant place", explained by the fact Zarafat was at different times the Northernmost city of the Egyptian empire (1800 BC), the Northernmost city of Judeah (1000BC), and the Westernmost city of the Assyrian empire (3000 BC). The location was rediscovered in 1975 and is undoubtedly beautiful, near a pretty coast with views of wooded mountains not far away.
Submitted by William Serfaty
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View the Zerafa Ancestry Book Here
- Benigno Zerafa - (Composer)
- Dun. Benin Zerafa - (18th century), l-ewwel 'maestro di Cappella' malti tal-Kattidral.
- Fr Carlo Zerafa - (17th century), Patri Frangiskan tal-Minuri Konventwali gharef.
- Francesco Zerafa - (18th century) arkitett maghruf.
- Frangisk Zerafa -
Enngineer and contractor of Fort Manuel on the Island of Marsamxett. in 1726
- Joseph L. Zerafa - (1917-) poeta maghruf f'Malta.
- Fr Marius Zerafa - (1929-
- Guze R. Zerafa, M.B.E -
- Rosalea Zerafa - (Duchess di Mondello 1780)
- Stefano Zerafa - (1791-1871, tabib xjenzat awtur prolifiku.
- Stephanus Zerafa - (Botanist)
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