A Spanish surname, Cervantes comes from the Latin term ‘serviens’ which meant a servant of the lord. There is also the term ‘ciervo’ which means a stag, a deer The spelling variations for Cervantes include Cervantez and de Cervantes. In Spain the Cervantes families started in the Castile region. Many resettled in the countries of the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba and Peru. Within the United States the Cervantes families primarily settled in Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Arizona, Colorado and California. Famous: Miguel Cervantes (16th century Spanish poet, novelist and playwright), Alfonso J. Cervantes (Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri), Ignacio Cervantes (music composer from Cuba), Lorna Dee Cervantes (poet from Chile), Ivan Cervantes (a Spanish motorcycle racer) and Horacio Javier Cervantes (footballer from Mexico).