Gama History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Gama is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Gama family lived in Gamaches, in Normandy.

"The castle and vill of Gamaches were situated in the Norman Vexin, and gave name to a Deanery in the Archdiocese of Rouen. Godfrey de Gamaches, who doubtless derived his name from this vill, inherited two knight's fees of old feoffment in the Honour of Lacy. The English interests of his family were therefore established before the reign of Henry I. This Godfrey received from Henry III. a grant of Stottesden in Shropshire, where his posterity remained seated till about 1254. He also obtained Marshall, in the same county, by grant of Richard I., and died before 1176. His second son, William, inherited Mansel-Gamage, Herefordshire, Gamage Hall in Dimock, and other lands in Gloucestershire, and was Constable of Ludlow." 1

"The Lords of Gamaches in the French Vexin were said to be descended from Protadius, Mayor of the Palace to Theodoric, King of Orleans, 604." 2

Early Origins of the Gama family

The surname Gama was first found in Shropshire at Stottesden, a parish, in the union of Cleobury-Mortimer, hundred of Stottesden. 3

Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time.

Godfrey Gamages was listed in the Pipe Rolls for Hertfordshire in 1158; Philip de Camiges in the Hundredorum Rolls for Wiltshire in 1275; Alicia Gamage in the Hundredorum Rolls for Oxfordshire in 1279; and William Camage was listed a a Freeman of York in 1583. 4

Early History of the Gama family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gama research. Another 136 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1159, 1285, 1306, 1411, 1563, 1621, 1735, 1756, 1758, 1790, 1799, 1803, 1828, 1842, 1844, 1850, 1853, 1859, 1913 and 1939 are included under the topic Early Gama History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gama Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Gamadge, Gamage, Gammage, Gamages, Gamaches and others.

Early Notables of the Gama family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Barbara Gamage (1563-1621), a Welsh heiress, who inherited the Coity estate on the death of her father John Gamage, and later married Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester

Gama Ranking

In the United States, the name Gama is the 13,521^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5 However, in South Africa, the name Gama is ranked the 369^th most popular surname with an estimated 19,009 people with that name. 6

Gama migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Gama or a variant listed above were:

Gama Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Gaspar De Gama, who arrived in America in 1811 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Gama (post 1700) +

Armando António Capelo Diniz da Gama (1954-2022), Portuguese singer-songwriter and baritone opera singer, known for his shoulder-length jet black hair

Citations +

Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 2 of 3
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in South Africa." Forebears, https://forebears.io/south-africa/surnames
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)