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)“D'azur au lion d'arg., le corps depuis le col jusqu'à la queue échiq. d'arg. et de gu.”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Carcamo family of Spain.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur au lion d'arg., le corps depuis le col jusqu'à la queue échiq. d'arg. et de gu.”

The Carcamo arms were recorded in Castile, c. 1722.
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 surname Cárcamo traces its roots to the northern regions of Spain, particularly within the historical territory of Castile. By the early 18th century, the family was well-established in this area, as evidenced by records confirming their presence in the region by 1722. The name is considered a topographic surname, which means it was likely adopted by families living near a specific physical landmark or a place known as Cárcamo. In the Spanish language, the term often relates to a hollow, a ravine, or a steep slope, suggesting that the earliest ancestors to bear the name were identified by the unique landscape of their home. As these families moved throughout the Iberian Peninsula and eventually across the Atlantic, they carried this geographic connection with them, anchoring the identity of the lineage to the rugged terrain of their ancestral Spanish homeland.
Derived from the Basque word for a rocky or steep slope.