|
face="Lucida Bright" size=3>Mmmmm Since this subject started I've thought about the Novela that I'm watching "Alborada" . . . The prestigious noble family is Manrique y Arellano. So, this might be a dumb question but maybe the "Y" was used for noble families such as: Counts, Dukes, etc.? From: ranchos@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Irma GomezLucero Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 8:38 AM To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [ranchos] Re: double surnames Great questions, Emilie. I've often wondered about all that. From what I read, our Spanish ancestors came here to either get away from persecution (Sephardic Jews) or poverty. It seems this was an opportunity to better themselves, and perhaps take on new identities. The French would utilize "de" to denote nobility. I wonder if our ancestors also tried to appear as noble too. Irma From: ranchos@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Emilie Garcia Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 6:02 PM To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [ranchos] Re: double surnames I too have been wondering about the use of surnames in Mexico. I still don't understand what was meant when they used the "de" in front of the surname. Did they mean to say they were from a certain place? Back in the early 1700's in Zacatecas, I find that my Olagues used the "de Olague". There is a town in the Basque region of Spain with that name. However, I have no idea when that town was founded and if my ancestors came from there. They were Basque, that I know. Also, I find that many of my ancestors in Zacatecas used surnames interchangeably. My Tinajeros used the surnames Felix, Flores or Suriano often but there was not consistency (it would change from one generation to another and then back again), and my Matas, Valdeses and Pereses used those names interchangeably as did my Escovedo/de la Torre and Quijas/Berumen lines. Could it be that since only a handful of surnames were used in each community, that the people there were confused as to what their surnames were? Were they intimidated into using some surnames over others? Was it more prestigious or convenient to use certain surnames? This has all made it very difficult to find all the siblings in one family because they used different combinations of surnames at each baptism. This puts me in mind of what Anglos have done to preseve their more prestigious names. The Cabot-Lodges were really Lodges who used their mother's surname as a middle name ("the Lodges talk only to the Cabots, and the Cabots talk only to God"), versus using that name as the second surname as is done in Mexico. I notice that those who are related to the Kennedys through their mothers use the Kennedy name as a middle name. They consider themselves Kennedys. Also, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy always used the middle name Lee to denote she was a "Lee" from Virginia ("Lee" being a very prestigious name-- as in Robert E. Lee--, more so than Kennedy). One thing I have not found (perhaps because I have not gone back far enough) is the use of the "y". I do find (when browsing the census files that Puerto Ricans use the "y". Is it that people from a certain place in Spain used "de" or "y" and their descendents in the New World continued the same practice? Why do people in Puerto Rico still do that? I notice that in Mexico two surnames are always used, but they eliminate the "y". Emilie Garcia Port Orchard, WA ----
|
TEST SITE - DO NOT USE - Development only
Nuestros Ranchos - Test Site