Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
 ANGUIANO Family Crest / ANGUIANO Coat of ArmsThe Italian surname of ANGUIANO was an occupational name, one who acted as a religious messenger or as a messenger from God, also a nickname for an angelic person, or for someone who had played the part of an angel in a mystery play or pageant. Nicknames usually originated as a by-name for someone by describing their appearance, personal disposition or character but which became handed down through the ages and did not apply to their descendants. The name was originally rendered in the Latin form ANGELUS. The Puritans could not oust this name, although bitterly hated by them. The name is also spelt ANGELL, ANDELL, ANGELO, ANGEAU and ANGE. The origins of Italian surnames are not clear, and much work remains to be done on medieval Italian records. It seems that fixed bynames, in some cases hereditary, were in use in the Venetian Republic by the end of the 10th century. Central Italian heraldry has been much influenced by the church. Families deriving their titles from popes have incorporated papal insignia in their arms, notably the papal tiara and the crossed keys. The heraldry is reflected by the history of the country which has been used as a battlefield for successive German, French, Spanish and Austrian invaders. Italian heraldry has however developed certain characteristics shown by the use of horse-head shaped shields which were put on the foreheads of horses at tournaments. Crests are rare but when they do appear are quite ostentatious. As the agricultural depression of southern Italy worsened towards the end of the 19th century, people began to escape to the New World. The exodus started in earnest in 1887 with Brazil and other parts of Latin America being the original destinations. By 1893, the economy had improved in the United States and people headed there from Italy in greater and greater numbers. In 1898 there were more Italian immigrants to the USA than from any other country. In the post war era, more than a quarter of Italians left the country for a new life. They joined a flood of immigrants to America which was averaging a million a year in the pre war years. Thomas ANGELL who emigrated to New England in 1631, and was one of the founders of Boston, is the ancestor of many Americans with this name. |
