From the first name Serafino, derived from the Hebrew "Serafim", from "seraf" = to burn.

E. De Felice and F. De Laurentiis agree that the surname was formed from the Christian name Serafino, which continues —through the Latin adaptation Seraphim and the Greek Seraphím— the Hebrew Šerāfīm, plural of šāraf ("ardent"), from the verb šāraf ("to burn, to blaze").

De Felice recalls that Šerāfīm is already, in the Old Testament, the denomination of the six-winged beings, ardent with love and charity, who stand before the throne of Yahweh.

De Laurentiis specifies that the suffix -im denotes the plural and that saraph means "ardent, burning" and also "(ardent) dragon." He adds that, taken in a metaphorical sense, the name could have meant "the ardent ones, the purifying ones." He notes that the surname is diffused throughout Italy with a medium frequency.