Sârbu (Romanian pronunciation: [sɨrbu]; also Sârbul, Sîrbu, and Sărbu) is a Romanian-language ethnonymic surname, used in both Romania and Moldova, as well as throughout the Balkans.
[6] In 1994, the University of Craiova database counted 33,958 citizens of Romania with the surname "Sârbu", well ahead of some derivatives—including "Sârbulescu" (467 namesakes) and "Sârbescu" (401).
[10] "Sârbu" is conceptually related to the name "Rațiu", which is much more widespread in Transylvania and ultimately derives from the Hungarian-language rác ("Rascian").
[11] In the Banat region, which was for long part of the Habsburg monarchy, there was a coexistence of Serbs and Romanians, which also contributed to the name's geographical spread.
As noted by historian Iurie Colesnic, the Sârbus of Bessarabia evoked that region's status as a "bridgehead for Serbs to prepare their liberation from the Ottoman yoke".