Coats of arms are not awarded to a family or a name, but to an individual. This is why there is no coat of arms and crest for many family surnames---only a coat of arms and crest granted to someone with that name many years ago. This is why there is often more than one coat of arms associated with a given surname. In England, direct descent is required for any heir to have the legal right to bear his ancestor's coat of arms.

Unless you can trace your family history to one individual, and unless the sources list that individual, then the best that you can hope for is to find a coat of arms that is the oldest for a given name from a given region or the one most frequently used. Coats of arms usually started out fairly simple in design, then continuing generations added onto it or made slight variations to the design to make it their own. Marriages often resulted in a combination of two different family lines' coats of arms.

Someone making a study of heraldry usually becomes interested in Genealogy or maybe seeking for legal claim to a particular coat of arms. No family can make real claim to the right to a coat of arms unless a proven connection is established through certified genealogical records.

Bearing of coats of arms is not regulated in the United States and in most countries. We might find a coat of arms and history for a given surname, but know that it is associated with someone centuries ago who shared our surname. These can be enjoyed based on the association with our name. And there's no reason why we cannot create a coat of arms and crest for ourselves based on the coat of arms of an ancestor with our name, or designed from scratch to mean something special to our own lives and family.

Coat of Arms, Family Crests, Heraldry and our Ancestors