Comments on: Naming names

By: Paul Ortega

Paul Ortega — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:45:13 +0000

Chicano and very proud of being a Californian. I named my son after me & added a little Mexican love from my father to seal the deal on the right name-he is Paul Pablito Ortega. I was called Pablito by older family members and called pauly by sibiling. Now we all call my son Pablito- his abuelito is Pablo. Some my say it was overkill, I say it was ah toda madre!lol. My 2nd baby is on his way (2 weeks) and we have gone with Diego-but still looking for a middle name. Thanks for reading & continue to post. Que tengan buen dia. Paul

By: ale

ale — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:19:03 +0000

Well for some reason I get a bit upset when hear latinos calling their kids really white names. Kaidy, BRAIN, BRANDON, ASHELY. I MIGHT BE WRONG BUT I FEEL LIKE THEY ARE TRYING TO FORGET WHERE WE CAME FROM. HOWEVER I AGREE WITH THE BILLINGUAL NAMES.I JUST REALLY DON’T WANT MY KIDS TO BE LIKE SOME CHICANOS THAT I HAVE MET WHO ARE ASHAMED OF WHAT THEY ARE.LIKE THE ONES WHO REALLY DO SPEAK SPANISH BUT ACT LIKE THEY DONT.I TRY TO TEACH MY KIDS TO BE PROUD OF WHAT TYPE OF BLOOD RUNS IN THIER VEINS.

By: Militant Angeleno

Militant Angeleno — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:42:43 +0000

Very interesting stuff. The Militant would like to share the origins of his real name and the cultural naming customs of his parents (who immigrated from an unspecified 3rd world country), but that would just give away too much.

By: HispanicPundit

HispanicPundit — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:34:20 +0000

LOL @ El Chavo…I’ve heard of Florentino and especially Refugio, but Tiburcio??? You wouldn’t???

Well…it depends on where they grow up. If you plan to continue to live in East LA or any other lower income minority neighborhood, it would have a different affect (likely positive or trivial) than if you grew up in an affluent White neighborhood.

Since I sold out a long time ago, and decided to raise my kids in the most affluent neighborhood I could afford, I chose a bilingual name – pronounced easily by my relatives and his future friends.

By: Alm Morales

Alm Morales — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:28:58 +0000

I don’t like it when I hear people calling their kids, BBBBraiaaaaaaan , JOnatan, Achle (Ashley, Jeison, Cebin Kevin) am i wrong to feel a little anger ???y estan bien morenitos….all my grand kids have hispanic” names and proud of it!!

By: Gustavo Arellano

Gustavo Arellano — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:09:26 +0000

Gracias for the link to my column. My two sisters and I have purely Hispanic names (Gustavo, Elsa, Alejandrina), while the youngest brother is Gabriel–one of those bilingual names, but we named him after my oldest uncle. I do remember my dad wanted to call Gabriel Petrolino (talk about old-school!), but my mom adamantly refused on the grounds no Mexicans use such antiquated names anymore.

And nicknames: my tios y tias call me Tavo or Guti, my cousins call me Gus. Interestingly enough, when gabachos call me Gus, I correct them and tell them to call me by my full name. Los primos are cool because we’re assimilating; gabachos aren’t, because they don’t want to make the effort to pronounce my full name. Ah, the schizophrenic Chicano mind…

By: adriana

adriana — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:29:54 +0000

“no hardcore white names nor hardcore Spanish names”

What exactly are “hardcore white names”? Can’t white Spaniards have very “white names” as well?

I care more about cadence. Does the last name flow with the first? I don’t mind Spanish names, but I do think that Spanish first names or those that can be pronounced in Spanish flow better with Spanish last names.

I would love to have a child with a very obvious Spanish name blow away those who stereotype by speaking perfect English, earning a degree in the hard sciences, and maybe even learning to speak Chinese or a langauge that isn’t Latin based. I would imagine that some automatically stereotype Spanish names as being those for the housekeeper or gardener.

By: EL CHAVO!

EL CHAVO! — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:23:24 +0000

I was given a name that real Americans find hard to pronounce, they like to butcher or anglicize it. I hated it growing up, and even changed it for awhile, cuz we were in the new and better world now. It wasn’t long before I hated that new name as well. Plus I think having said name helped in making me aware of certain things, and I can live with it. It’s like the Johnny Cash song about a boy named Sue, those few letters end up shaping you much more than you’d imagine.
Thus I’ve decided that if I ever have kids, they’re gonna get the most messed up Mexican names I can tolerate. Tiburcio is up there, as is Florentino. Maybe even Refugio, my grandfathers name as well. Life ain’t easy kids, get used to some pain!

By: -k-

-k- — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:17:24 +0000

PRM, I’m adding you to the list.. I’ve become convinced that for parents looking for that Spanish-English compatibility, Sofia is the go-to name for girls. It was the name I carried around in my head.. and the same goes for three of my closest friends, all Spanish-English bilinguals, none of whom are friends with one another. (My best friend beat me to the punch before I met her, though, so back to the drawing board..) Daniel was on my short list for boys (it’s also my dad’s name). I’d question the article’s claim about that being attributable to people looking for bilingual names, as well, though.

By: HispanicPundit

HispanicPundit — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:16:54 +0000

TacoSam,

I sometimes feel the same way. I could tell it hurt my dad a little also. Sometimes I think I should have named atleast the first born male my name…but alas, I chose a different direction and even if we have a second one, the opportunity has passed.