Aça Coat of Arms Record & History

A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Aça family of Portugal.

Reg. 2981 · Portuguese, A–C

Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details

Where the Aça Arms Were Recorded

Lisboa
Map of Portugal showing where the Aça arms are recorded

The Aça arms were recorded in Portugal, c. 1706.

Arms such as these were typically recorded in Lisboa.

Lisbon was the seat of the Portuguese crown and the port its wealth came through. Families made rich by trade and by service to the king took arms, and the crown's heralds recorded them there.

This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.

Region
Lisboa
First recorded
1706

Granting Authority for the Aça Arms

Arms of Cartório da Nobreza
Cartório da Nobreza
Authority

Cartório da Nobreza

1512-1910

The body that granted and recorded arms in Portugal in this period.

Portrait of Peter II of Portugal
Peter II of Portugal
Sovereign of the period

Peter II of Portugal

1683–1706

Reigning in Portugal when the Aça arms are first recorded.

How Arms Worked in Portugal

In Portugal, a coat of arms was a family possession that passed from a father to his children. Every legitimate descendant had the right to use the family shield without needing to change it. Younger branches of the family kept the original design, though they sometimes added small symbols to distinguish their specific line from the main branch.

Granting authority
The Cartório da Nobreza acted as the official body that managed and regulated noble titles and coats of arms in Portugal.
How they got arms
Families typically inherited their arms through bloodline, though they could also receive new grants from the crown for distinguished service.
Where arms were recorded
Coats of arms were officially recorded in the books of the Cartório da Nobreza starting in the year 1512.
The family's standing
Recorded among the armigerous families of Portugal.

Origin & History of the Aça Family in Portugal

The family name Aça carries a distinct history rooted in the vibrant urban landscape of eighteenth-century Portugal. Historical records confirm that members of the family were well-established residents of Lisboa by 1706, a time when the city served as a bustling center of trade and culture under the Portuguese Empire. During this era, families living in the capital often played active roles in the local parish communities, which served as the primary hubs for social, religious, and administrative life. Because the name is relatively rare, it likely emerged from a specific geographic location or a unique occupational tradition within the region. As the family navigated the social shifts of the early 1700s, they contributed to the diverse fabric of Lisboa, leaving behind traces in local baptismal and marriage registers that document their presence long before the city underwent its massive reconstruction later in the century.

Related Branches & Arms

Root word
Açor

A bird of prey, specifically a goshawk.

This name
AçaDerived from a topographic or habitational reference to a place associated with goshawks.
also spelled
Aka
Acca
Assa

Documented Sources

J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87

Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Registos Paroquiais de Lisboa (1706)

Freitas, Maria da Conceição, A População de Lisboa no Século XVIII (1998)

Oliveira, César, História de Lisboa (1994)

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