The associated coat of arms for this name are recorded in J.B Rietstaps Armorial General. Illustrated by V & H.V Rolland's. This Monumental work took 23 years to complete and 85,000 coats of Arms are included in this work. This surname AGUAYO was a Spanish name of three-fold origin. It was a topographic name for someone who lived near a spring, or an occupational name for a seller of water or no doubt was the sobriquet of some early teetotalers. During the Middle Ages it was said that 'Ale for an Englysshe man is a naturall drynke'. It was drunk at all times, taking the place not only of tea, and coffee, but also of water. A 13th century writer describing the extreme poverty of Franciscian monks when they first settled in London writes 'I have seen the brothers drink ale so sour that some would have preferred to drink water'. The surname was perhaps applied to a man so poor that he could not afford to drink ale even when it was four gallons a penny. The name was also used ironically of a tavern-keeper, and perhaps of a tippler. The name was derived from the Old Spanish AGUADO (water) and rendered in medieval documents in the Latin form AQUA. The name is also spelt AGUADO. Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th Century. The employment in the use of a second name was a custom that was first introduced from the Normans. They themselves had not long before adopted them. It became, in course of time, a mark of gentler blood, and it was deemed a disgrace for gentlemen to have but one single name, as the meaner sort had. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield and embroidered on his surcoat, the flowing and draped garment worn over the armour.