Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Ec. en saut.: aux 1 et 4 d'arg. à quatre pals d'azur; aux 2 et 3 d'arg. à l'aigle de”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the America family of Spain.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Ec. en saut.: aux 1 et 4 d'arg. à quatre pals d'azur; aux 2 et 3 d'arg. à l'aigle de”

The America arms were recorded in Spain, c. 1722.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Castile.
Castile was the heart of Spain and the source of most of its noble families. Land won in the long wars against the Moors was granted out to fighting men, and a man granted land was granted arms along with it.
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.
In Spain, a coat of arms was considered a form of property that belonged to the entire family line. These arms were passed down from a father to all his children equally. Younger branches of the family usually kept the original design without needing to add any special marks to distinguish their specific line.
The family name America traces its roots to the Iberian Peninsula, with documented evidence placing members of the family in the region of Castile by the year 1722. During this period, surnames in Spain often evolved from geographic locations, occupations, or unique personal identifiers that distinguished one household from another. While the name shares a linguistic connection to the explorer Amerigo Vespucci, its use as a family surname suggests that early ancestors may have adopted it to signify a connection to a specific place or as a unique cultural marker within the local community. As the family established themselves in Castile, they became part of the social fabric of the region, participating in the local economy and parish life that defined eighteenth-century Spanish society. This early presence indicates that the family was well-integrated into the administrative and social systems of the time, leaving behind traces in official records that allow us to track their movement and development across generations.
Derived from Germanic elements meaning home ruler or power of the home.
