Much has been written about the origin of the name “Syrrako”. Some said that the name came from the many waters that flowed through the village. Others that it comes from Syracuse, a city in Italy and others from the first leader of the inhabitants, Syros.
The P. Aravantinos writes that he got the name from the Ioannina owner of the village of Sirrakos.
Seraphim Xenopoulos-Byzantios who copies Aravantinos notes that the owner is a certain Ioannis Sirrakos and not Gianiotis.
Athanasios Stageiritis calls the village Sarakon and it became, he claims, from the sarika or sariko, the flecked fabric that the village produces.
It should be noted here that several writers of the 19th century mainly call Sirrakos Sarakos or Serakou, such as the great teacher of Genus Ath. Psalidas, ATH. Stageiritis, Ioan. Lambridis, Chr Soulis et al. Moreover, many who came from Syracos kept the surnames Sarakiotis and Serakiotis.
That is why it seems more likely to be the opinion of the Epirotian historian Ioannis Lampridis who writes that the word Serakou is Vlach and is an important place that means poverty and nakedness.
The Danish linguist Hoeg and the German Balkanologist Weigand agree with Lambridis’s opinion, who argue that the word Serakou is derived from the Kutsovlach word “sarac” which means poor place, barren and stony place.
Source book: “Syrrako Stone-Memory-Light”
