AllegroTrans Oct 24, 2020:

It occurs to me ...that the Asker may not want a translation for some client, but for his own understanding (maybe genealogical research given that genealogy is in the subject field) so he almost certainly will not be content to "leave it in Spanish". Just a thought.

Taña Dalglish Oct 24, 2020:

@ Yelraf And if you get it wrong, what does that do? It opens you up to criticism, and again, I stress, the meaning of SRO is really immaterial to the translation. Even if it is Señor, would you normally see Mr Lucas Serra or Señor Lucas Serra/Fallecido ... on a headstone? No, I hardly think so!

Yelraf (asker) Oct 24, 2020:

Hi. I did understand what you said, but actually my main interest in translating here is the abbreviation itself. ;-) I do appreciate your help. Regards!

Taña Dalglish Oct 24, 2020:

@ Yelraf Perhaps you did not understand me, but for the final time, whatever SRO may be, as it is only a may be, what harm does one do just leaving SRO alone? Frankly, it is immaterial to the translation! When in doubt, leave it alone! Thanks.

Yelraf (asker) Oct 24, 2020:

SRO also appears on headstones entirely in Spanish Taña Dalglish has questioned whether SRO means Señor on the grounds that the headstone is "in English." Other headstones with SRO, however, are entirely in Spanish. See, e.g., https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2013/189/113597590_1373... Here's one where it was originally engraved SRO but changed to SRA because the person was a woman. (Trinidad is a unisex name.) See https://www.flickr.com/photos/33889940@N07/50521820596/in/da...
That one also is entirely in Spanish. In Texas it should not be surprising if Spanish and English are mixed.

Taña Dalglish Oct 24, 2020:

@ Yelraf I am not disputing the fact that "Sro" or "SRO" may mean Señor, but that still does not make too much sense given the fact that in this particular case, the rest is in English "Lucas Sierra/Died Oct. 3, 1931"! Why mix the two languages, if that were the case? My previous comments, which I still maintain is the correct way to go, is to leave SRO as is, as there are still too many unknowns and it is a safer option, BTW. This was posted recently (apparently?), as it was not there when searches were first conducted days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Spanish/comments/jgx3s4/sro_on_head... One comment goes on to say: Quote: My pleasure, and thanks for the award; I appreciate it! Maybe for the man it's Sr°, so Sr., or Señor, but they either couldn't get the superscript right or weren't sure what should have been a superscript? This image shows what I mean. Like how Doña is abbreviated D.a traditionally, but if you weren't familiar with Spanish, you might read it as D.a, which could become Doa on a tombstone. That's my guess, anyhow. Unquote It adds a picture which to me is illegible: https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2013/189/113597590_1373...

Yelraf (asker) Oct 24, 2020:

SRO = Señor I have found other headstones which read SRA. Those are women, so SRA obviously means Señora. I have also found a few others with SRO and one with SR, all men. In at least one instance the RO is superscript. On one headstone for a woman SRO was originaly carved but then changed to SRA . SRO thus must be an abbreviation for Señor. I cannot find it in any dictionary, so it may be nonstandard or local perhaps

AllegroTrans Oct 22, 2020:

Just a thought... Maybe this was a Catholic religious association of which he was a member? Sociedad Religioso O.....

AllegroTrans Oct 22, 2020:

Asker This person appears in several genealogies on Ancestry.com and he is also listed in US censuses. Censuses generally give a person's occupation, so there may be a clue there.

Yelraf (asker) Oct 17, 2020:

Not clear that headstone is "in English" Thanks for the suggestions, but Lucas Sierra was a poor farmworker. Very unlikely he had any of the positions suggested. The headstone has only two other words (besides numbers), "Died" and "Oct" Although the word "died" is English, of course, "Oct" works in either language. I think it is thus not clear that the stone is "in English." The grave is in a section of the cemetery that has many markers in Spanish. Also, I cant imagine what SRO could possibly mean in English that could work here.