How did family names get their motto?

Question:Not every family has a motto. Those are usually part of a coat of arms. Coats of arms do not belong to surnames. They were and are granted to individuals. Only a direct male line descendant of the individual that one was granted to can make a claim to their coat of arms. A crest is part of a coat of arms. Not everyone with the same surname is related. Surnames did not begin until the last melennium and then once people took or were assigned a surname, legitimate sons of the same man could have wound up with a different surname but each shared their surnames with others with whom they were not related.

There are no laws in the U. S. regarding heraldry and there are merchants of deceit that sell tacky little walnut plaques, coffee cups etc with coats of arms on them as if they belong to anyone with a particular surname. Actually there might be several that were granted to persons with the same surname but the peddlers that sell them won't have them all. They just need one to sell to gullible people.

Now many people can make legitimate claim to more than one in their family tree, but that doesn't mean they are entitled to any of them. It just means more than one direct ancestor were granted one and if they do research and actually find them, if they have a book printed on the family history, it is quite legitimate for them to put a picture of each of their ancestors coat of arms in it.
However, it is not legitimate if they just put one that was issued to someone with the same surname as their ancestor.

For Americans, if a person has any English lines that goes back to early colonial days in the American South, their chances are very good of finding more than one in their family tree. Some in the South have the ones their ancestor brought over from England 300-400 years ago. This includes people of humble means. They don't display them. They aren't any good at all for buying groceries.

See the links below, one from the British college of arms and the other from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U.S., The National Genealogical Society

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.ht...

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerp...

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Not every family has a motto. Those are usually part of a coat of arms. Coats of arms do not belong to surnames. They were and are granted to individuals. Only a direct male line descendant of the individual that one was granted to can make a claim to their coat of arms. A crest is part of a coat of arms. Not everyone with the same surname is related. Surnames did not begin until the last melennium and then once people took or were assigned a surname, legitimate sons of the same man could have wound up with a different surname but each shared their surnames with others with whom they were not related.

There are no laws in the U. S. regarding heraldry and there are merchants of deceit that sell tacky little walnut plaques, coffee cups etc with coats of arms on them as if they belong to anyone with a particular surname. Actually there might be several that were granted to persons with the same surname but the peddlers that sell them won't have them all. They just need one to sell to gullible people.

Now many people can make legitimate claim to more than one in their family tree, but that doesn't mean they are entitled to any of them. It just means more than one direct ancestor were granted one and if they do research and actually find them, if they have a book printed on the family history, it is quite legitimate for them to put a picture of each of their ancestors coat of arms in it.
However, it is not legitimate if they just put one that was issued to someone with the same surname as their ancestor.

For Americans, if a person has any English lines that goes back to early colonial days in the American South, their chances are very good of finding more than one in their family tree. Some in the South have the ones their ancestor brought over from England 300-400 years ago. This includes people of humble means. They don't display them. They aren't any good at all for buying groceries.

See the links below, one from the British college of arms and the other from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U.S., The National Genealogical Society

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.ht...

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerp...

I'm sorry I cant answer your question, but I have found this for you,
http://www.heraldryclipart.com/g.html
I just thought you might like a look at this site.

someone in the family created or adopted it.

Shirley's answer is totally accurate. Family names do not HAVE mottos, or crests, coats of arms, etc.
Being given a thumbs down on an ACCURATE answer is simply a matter of spite. The thumbs down is supposed to be used for answers that are inaccurate, not just someone does not "like" the answer or the poster.