The toponym has been connected to the Sarmatian tribe Serri settled north of the Caucasus, mentioned by Pliny the Elder (23-79) in Naturalis Historia. Other considered an existence of another same-named Dacian tribe because were recorded Thracian words with the same root. Although by some it seems unlikely, the majority of scholars deem the Sarmatian tribal connection as the most credible explanation because it is also similar to other ancient names of the Carpathians, Sarmatian Mountains and Alpes Bastarnicae, the fact Marcellinus reported about the Caucaland referring to the Carpathians, making Montes Serrorum a made-up geographical name.