face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----
From: Pacorro73@...m
[mailto:Pacorro73@...]
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 1:12
PM
To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ranchos]
Surnames

 

Ranchos,

 

Soon after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico and thereafter
during Colonial times, the ruling Españoles did not permit the Native Indians
from possessing surnames unless the Indios were of a special allied family,
the Indios somehow had earned themselves a surname, or eventually the adopted
a surname out of names that were not necessarily surnames.

 

Reyes is one such last name.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Every year on January 6, the Catholic
Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Epiphany, or Feast of the Magi, when
the three wise king visited the Baby Jesus in
Bethlehem.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  In
Mexico and
Spain the day
is called Epifanía or “Día de los Reyes Magos.”
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The “Reyes” were called Melchor,
Gaspar, and Baltazar.  So as a
result of this holy day, many children born on or near the holy-day were named
one or a combination of the following: 
José Epifánio, María Epifánia, José de los Reyes, María de los Reyes,
Melchor, Melchora, Gaspar, or Baltazar.

 

This is essentially what happened to children born on other
saint feast days.  style="mso-ansi-language: ES">San Juan de la Cruz’s feast day prompted many
children to be called Juan de la Cruz, Juana de la Cruz, José de la Cruz,
María de la Cruz, etc. 
That is why so many Indios have the surname Cruz or De la Cruz.
  style="mso-ansi-language: ES">Same thing with surnames like Rosa, Rosas, De la
Rosa, Bautista (after San Juan Bautista-St. John the Baptist), Trinidad (La
Santísima Trinidad), Concepción (La Inmaculada Concepción), De Jesús, Ignacio,
Xavier, Aquino (Santo Tomás Aquino-St. Thomas Aquinas), and many, many
more I don’t remember right now.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> 

 

Many Indians children were baptized with these names, and
over time surnames such as Reyes, de los Reyes, Melchor, Gaspar, Baltazar,
etc., began to appear, not just in
Mexico, but in
other colonies, like the
Philippines,
Cuba, and
Puerto Rico. 
That is how the native Tagalog, or freed African slaves got their last
names also. 

 

As an example, I can relate the tale of my mother’s maiden
name, López.  My mother’s direct
male line was López going back every generation until about 1720 or 1730.
 When I got back this far, I
discovered who my first male López ancestor was.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  His name was Jacinto López, son of
Juan Antonio de los Reyes and María Anna López, both Indios.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">   As you can see, Jacinto López
obviously used his mother’s surname. 
And that has been the surname used by my mother’s family, even though
it should be de los Reyes.  Juan
Antonio de los Reyes and María Anna López, thus became the progenitors of the
Indio surname López de los Reyes.

 

But, not everyone who used these names were Indios,
Mestizos, Mulatos, or Esclavos. 
Los Españoles also used these names also.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  I have begun to wonder if these
Españoles used them because they were Jewish or Moorish conversos?
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Hhmmmhh???
style="mso-spacerun: yes">  I have an ancestress (actually
several) who went by the name Melchora de los Reyes (named after Melchor, the
Wise King), and she was an española. 
The first one then gave her name to her daughter, another Melchora de
los Reyes, and then to her granddaughter, the third Melchora de los Reyes.

 

Well I hope this data is helpful or insightful to you
all.  Good bye and God bless.

 

style="mso-ansi-language: ES">Sincerely,

Steven
Francisco Hernández Gamiño y López de los Reyes

(aka: Steven F. Hernández-López)