The Basque family name Amoros is classified as being of habitation origin. This term refers to surnames whose origin lies in the place of residence of the initial bearer. Habitation names tell us from whence hailed the progenitor of the family, whether it be a town or village or a place identified by a conspicuous topographical feature. In this particular instance, the surname Amoros is composed of the Basque elements "ama", meaning "pasture", followed by the suffixes "-or" and "-os". We may therefore imagine the original bearer of the name was an individual whose home was located near a pasture.
In addition to the meaning mentioned above, Amoros may derive from a term meaning "holm oak grove". While the use of hereditary family names began on the Iberian peninsula in the thirteenth century, it was not until the sixteenth century that the practice became firmly established among the general populace.
Variants of the surname Amoros include Amoroz. One of the earliest references to this name or to a variant is a record of one Juan Amoros, a jurist mentioned in 1430. However, research is of course ongoing and this name may have been documented even earlier than the date indicated above. Notable bearers of the surname Amoros include Felipe Amoros, a silversmith cited in 1525, Joaquin Amoros, a writer mentioned in 1535, Esteban Amoros (1592-1652), a cleric and Francisco Amoros, a writer born in 1770. Other bearers of this name who distinguished themselves include Juan Amoros (1797-1860), a Cistercian monk, Tomas Amoros, a printer who died in 1810 and Amancio Amoros, a musician born in 1854. The coat of arms described above was granted to a family bearing the name Amoros.
The record notes that in the fifteenth century, two daughters of Judge Guevara, of Cataluna , Spain married two lawyers also brothers whose surname was Amoros. After the marriages they uprooted from the mainland and moved to Mallorca, Spain (Map). (All about Mallorca)
I am glad to have taken some fun time out to learn what little I have learned about the family name's origin and to have been able to share it with you my visitor. I prompt everyone reading this to go and have some fun and research their own family name. After all there is some valuable knowledge to be gained about your family history.
~Carmen
The shield's color is gold which denotes generosity. Inside the yellow shield is a gray pelican in her piety sable. The pelican represents Charity. The pelican stands with her wings spread out and raised to protect, her head poised downward, eyes fixed on her young as she feeds them of her own blood which pours out of a self inflicted wound on her chest. It seems that this crest was strongly symbolic of the generosity and loyalty that the original bearer of the Amoros name had for his king and his country.
The bearer of this name (Amoros) had to have demonstrated that he was an extremely loyal and sacrificial person bent on defending his king and his country to the death, if it meant that giving up his own life would ensure the survival of the Monarchy and his country. An individual of such character, loyalty and dependability was undoubtedly someone on whom great trust and responsibility could be placed. Therefore, a person of nobility for whom a similar coat of arms might have been designed, would probably have been called upon to be the bearer of the king's seal. Bearing the king's seal meant that the bearer of the royal seal had the power to make decisions in the name of the king when the king was not available to make decisions. For example, when the army was at war and the king was not present, the bearer of the king's seal would probably need to make strategic decisions in the king's name and hope that these would secure victory in battle.
I did some research on the family name and thought it would be fun to share it here. Not that any of what I learned has anything to do with me today, but it was fun to learn something of my name's history. I learned first hand that the meaning of my name is not what I expected it to mean or what I had imagined was in my family name. I also found the name's coat of arms and learned what it represented then and possible reasons why it was created for the original bearer of the name Amoros.
Long ago Coats of Arms were created for persons who were of direct service to a Monarchy. These crests were designed to reflect the trade or rank of the person for whom the seal was created.
On this crest located on the right side of this screen, flowers or vines adorn the shield's exterior. Three silver or white feathers rise through the helmet suggesting the holder's heraldry and nobility, an indication that the person in whose honor the crest was created was someone of high rank in the king's court or in the king's army or both. This was someone who probably bore much responsibility and accountability in his service to the Monarchy. (Three feathers also adorn the shield on the Coat of Arms of the Prince of Wales).
