Sena
A surname found in several traditions, including Old Frisian patronymic forms and occasional French place-name usage.
The #4,669 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,640 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence points to more than one possible source. In Old Frisian material, Sena appears as part of patronymic surname forms ending in -sena, a pattern tied to older genitive-style formations from a personal name. In Norman-French records, however, De Sena appears as a locative-style byname, suggesting an origin from a place called Sena or a similar name. Because the excerpts do not settle which stream produced the modern surname in every family, the safest conclusion is that Sena can be either patronymic or locational depending on the line.
History
The name is attested in medieval northern European records, including Normandy. Later on, scholarship on Dutch and Frisian surnames treated forms like Sierksena as part of a broader system of old patronymic surnames, while some continental records preserve De Sena as a place-based form. In modern usage, Sena is also found independently in other naming traditions, so a single origin should not be assumed for all bearers.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One of the excerpts places Sena alongside a whole family of old Frisian surname endings such as -sema and -sna, showing how closely these names were tied to older grammar.
From the historical record
“and other families. Shaen, or Shane. Iluch de Sena, Normandy 1180-05 (MRS). G. de S. 13th cent, in Normandy (Mem. Soc. Ant. Norm. v. 14-1); Simon Scan, Engl. c. 1272 (Rll). Shafe, for Saife. See St.lfe.”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States