Recorded in a number of spellings as shown below, this is usually a surname of Roman (Latin) origins. However when found in England, it may be from the Roman or it can be locational from Carrow, a village near Norwich, in Norfolk. It is widely recorded in Southern Europe and particularly Spain and Italy as Caro, Cari, Carello, Caroni, De Caro, Di Caro and Carazo, and derives from the ancient word 'carus' meaning beloved, and hence before the development of surnames from the 13th century onwards, was a personal or baptismal name of great popularity. Personal names were amongst the first to be also surnames in their own right, although many were lost when returning Crusdaers and other pilgrims from the Holy Land gave their subsequent children biblical or often Greecian names in honour of the fathers exploits. However this name perhaps because of its connotations of goodliness if not exactly godliness, seems to not only have survived, but to to have prospered. Sadly records from these countries are always erratic, and often non existent, so that whereas a medieval English or German surname came often be traced back to the year 1250, this rarely applies in other countries. However in this case we do have in the Spanish records recordings back to the late medieval period and these include: Catalina Caro who married Pedro Romero Soriano at Sevilla, in 1519, the exact date is not known, and Andres Caro, who married Constanca Esteres at Esquevilla de Esqueva, Valladolid, on January 16th 1603.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024