This popular surname is of Old Spanish origin, and is a patronymic form of the surname from the personal name "Gomo", which is itself a pet form of "Gomesano", composed of Old Spanish elements meaning "man, path", plus the patronymic suffix "-ez", son of, which derives from a Latin genitive, "-ici", denoting affiliation. Gomez is also cognate with the English surname Gomme, which originates from the Olde English "guma", iddle English "gome", man. Early examples of the surname in Spanish Church Registers include: the christening of Juan Gomez (Solis) on December 1st 1535, at Nuestra Senora La Antiqua, Valladolid; the christening of Maria, daughter of Anton and Ines Gomez, on May 8th 1558, also at Nuestra Senora La Antiqua; and the marriage of Pedro Gomez to Catalina Garcia, on November 19th 1572, at San Sebastian, Villapalacios, Albecate. In England, Horace, son of Narozo and Emma Gomez, was christened on September 16th 1858, at St. Pancras, London. A Coat of Arms granted to a Gomez family of Castille, depicts on a silver shield, a green pine tree on a green terrasse, with two black wolves rampant facing each other against the tree trunk. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Maria Gomez (la Pareja), which was dated 1521, marriage to Lorenzo Suarez de Figneroa, at Belacazar, Cordoba, Spain, during the reign of King Charles 1 of Spain, 1516 - 1556. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.