Wednesday, April 2, 2008

History of the Robles and Chamorro Families

I was conducting some research on the net as I am always wont to do and decided to find information regarding the two last names of my mother's side of the family: Robles Chamorro and found the following information:

From Ancestory.com


Robles
Spanish: topographic name from the plural of roble ‘oak’, or a habitational name from Los Robles in Lleón, named from the same word.
From 4Crests:
The associated coat of arms for this name are recorded in J.B Rietstaps Armorial General. Illustrated by V & H.V Rolland's. This Monumental work took 23 years to complete and 85,000 coats of Arms are included in this work. The surname of ROBLES is a Provencal and Spanish topographic name for someone who lived by a notable oak tree or in an oak forest. The name was originally derived from the Old Provencal word ROUVRE, and rendered in medieval documents in the Latin form ROBUR. The name is also spelt ROURE, DUROUVRE, DELROURE, DELLA, ROVERE, ROBLEDO, ROVREDO and ROVIRA. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. In the 8th century, Spain fell under the control of the Moors, and this influence, which lasted into the 12th century, has also left its mark on Hispanic surnames. A few names are based directly on Arabic personal names. The majority of Spanish occupational and nickname surnames, however, are based on ordinary Spanish derivatives. In Spain identifying patronymics are to be found as early as the mid-9th century, but these changed with each generation, and hereditary surnames seem to have come in slightly later in Spain than in England and France. As well as the names of the traditional major saints of the Christian Church, many of the most common Spanish surnames are derived from personal names of Germanic origin. For the most part these names are characteristically Hispanic. They derive from the language of the Visigoths, who controlled Spain between the mid-5th and early 8th centuries. The lion depicted in the arms is the noblest of all wild beasts which is made to be the emblem of strength and valour, and is on that account the most frequently borne in Coat-Armour.

Chamorro
Spanish: nickname from chamorro ‘shaven head’, used especially to denote a boy or Portuguese man.

Websites:
http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/robles-family-crest.htm
http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=chamorro
http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Robles-name-meaning.ashx
http://www.ancestry.com/facts/chamorro-name-meaning.ashx
http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/robles-coat-arms.htm

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