Sarfati (Hebrew: צרפתי; [tsaʁfaˈti], variously transliterated and spelled Sarfatti, Sarphati, Serfaty, Sarfaty, Zarfati, Tsarfati, Tzarfati) is a Sephardic Jewish surname. The surname literally means "French" in the Hebrew language, and is derived from the Biblical placename Tzarfat which in later times was identified in Jewish tradition as France.
One account places the origin of the surname as being linked to Rashi by way of his grandson Rabbeinu Tam, but the connection, although anchored in the Ketubot traditions has never been fully proven due to a seven generations gap in the genealogy after Jews were expelled from France by Philippe le Bel in 1306.
In another account, when the Jews were being expelled from Spain in 1492, a number of them went to France, where they were soon discovered and forced to leave so not to break France's treaty with Spain. From France, the group then went to Turkey. When questioned by the Turkish authorities as to their country of origin, learning from their previous experience when revealing their origin from Spain, they replied that they came from France, and were thus permitted to stay. Hence they called themselves Sarfati: Frenchman.
Notable people with the surname include:
Georges-Elia Sarfati, philosopher, linguist, poet, and an existentialist psychoanalystJonathan Sarfati (born 1964), Australian–New Zealander chess player and creationist authorLea Michele Sarfati (born 1986), American singer and actress, Broadway performer and star of TV show "Glee"Lise Sarfati (born 1958), French photographerLydia Sarfati, Polish-born American esthetician, entrepreneur, consultant and authorSamuel Sarfati (died c. 1519), Italian physician to Popes Alexander VI and Julius IISonia Sarfati (born 1960), French author and journalistAnna Sarfatti (born 1950), Italian writer of children's booksJack Sarfatti (born 1939), American theoretical physicist and writerMargherita Sarfatti (1880–1961), Italian journalist and lover of Benito MussoliniRiccardo Sarfatti (born 1940), Italian architect and politician in LombardyGretta Sarfaty Marchant (born 1947), British-Brazilian artist and curatorRegina Sarfaty (born 1934), American operatic mezzo-sopranoSamuel Sarphati (1813–1866), Dutch physician and city plannerAbraham Serfaty (1926–2010), Moroccan dissidentAbraham Serfaty (Gibraltarian), former Mayor of GibraltarChristine Daure-Serfaty (1926–2014), French-Moroccan activistDan Serfaty (born 1966) is a French entrepreneur and businessmanIsaac Chocrón Serfaty (1930-2011), Venezuelan playwrightRosalinda Serfaty (born 1969), Argentine-born Venezuelan actressSylvia Serfaty, French Mathematician, winner of the 2004 EMS Prize for her contributions to the Ginzburg–Landau theoryWilla Vasquez Serfaty, Gibraltarian artist