CUBA-L Archives

Archiver > CUBA > 2002-03 > 1015003716


From: Margarita Martin <>
Subject: [CUBA-L] More names
Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2002 12:48:22 -0500


In my family tree, Clemencia, Inocencia, Venturosa, and Gregorios "a
tó titirimundachi"! (Afrocuban patois, meaning "a lot").

But also many Blancas and Dolores. Think about it: those Spanish
names now sound perfectly normal to us (or to the older ones among us),
right? But why is Blanca more normal and/or atractive than, say,
"Amarilla"? And how about Dolores? It means "pains", "aches",
"sorrows"!

And have you noticed the abundance of Cuban names the past few
decades that have a Y in them and no recognizable root source?
Yusneisis, Diovelys, Usnavy, Dorisleysis, etc., etc? I wonder where
those names com from.

Don't get me wrong, I am not critical of any of the above names,
just pointing out that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and very
much conditioned by time and place.

Seriously, this discussion has given me many good "clues" about
possible first names to search for among my ancestors, and possible
dates of birth to seach for, among the ones whose names I already know.
Thank you for all the information.

Margarita

This thread: