Recorded in the spellings of Samudio, de Zamudio, and Zamudio, and possibly other forms, this is a Spanish surname. It is locational and the register entries clearly indicate that it derives from a place called Zamudio, but if this place still exists, (many have disappeared over the centuries), we have been unable to verify the exact location. The register entries as 'de Zamudio' clearly indicate not only that the name is locational, but is also of aristocratic origins, the preposition 'de' being used throughout the written social history of Europe for the past thousand years to indicate land ownership and hence nobility. Early examples of the surname taken from authentic civil and church registers include Castro de Zamudio, at St Nicholas de Bari, Valladolid, Spain, on September 23rd 1644, and in Mexico Tapia Juano de Dios Samudio, at Ascuncion, on March 16th 1672. Francisa de Zamudio was christened at San Esteban, Vizcaya, Spain, on February 1st 1763, and Maria Antonio Camacho Zamudio, was born at Santa Catarina, Districto Federal, Mexico, on March 21st 1779. The coat of arms has the very distinctive blazon of a gold field, charged with a black lion rampant. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Maria Ortega de Zamudio, which was dated March 29th 1597, at Nuestra Senora de La Antigua, Valladolid, Spain, during the reign of King Phillip 11 of Spain, Emperor of Mexico, 1556 - 1598. 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.

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