The Spanish Surname "Zapanta" is a variant of the surname "Zapata", with intrusive (n).  Since their establishment during the Middle Ages, surnames have sufferd many changes, principally due to orthographic errors and also due to the presence of the numerous dialects found within the Spanish language.  The name is thus, more frequently found in the standard form of "Zapata" with the lineage of this family, originating in Aragon and descending from Rui Sanchez de Zapanta.  The latter was "copero mayor" or "principal cupbearer" to Juan I, King of Castile and hailed originally from Calatayud, in Zaragoza.  Other members of the nobility bearing the surname "Zapanta" were enrolled in the Spanish military orders of Calatrava, Montesa, Santiago, Alcantara and San Juan de Jerusalem, and had their status of nobility confirmed in the "Real Chancilleria de Valladolid".

    Maria Ana de Riverol y Zapata, born in Guia in 1633, married Antonio Xuarez de Quintana, Captain of Milicias del Tercio de Galdar in 1653.  In the register of the military of Segovia are listed, Ceferino Zapanta (Engineering 1819); Gabriel Zapanta Layug (Infantry 1878); Victoriano Zapanta y Mendizabal (Ecclesiastic 1854); and Simplicio Zapanta Violanta (Infantry 1897).  The surname "Zapanta" o "Zapata" is of toponymic origin from one of the two places named Zapata located>>one in Pontevedra (Galicia) and in Avila (Castilla-Leon).  This toponym is derived from the Basque word "zapata" in Castillian>>"zapato" meaning shoe.