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Eustaquia Maria Luisa better known as Lusia... of course!

As you may have seen on the page dedicated to nicknames, Puerto Ricans seem to have never gone by their given names, you know, the one that appears on their birth certificates. This often makes them difficult to find when researching documents. Looking into nicknames is your best bet for documents but what about when you find the real name? Many are the standard Jose and Manuel but some are now off beat and for the most part out of use. This led me to create a list of the origins of some of the most unusual or now uncommon names I've encountered. 

nicknames

Old School Puerto Rican Names

How do you even pronounce that?

After looking at the censuses from the 19th and early 20th centuries while developing my large Puerto Rican family tree, it is obvious that many of the older names have not survived the turn of this century. Many older Spanish first names have no English equivalent (which I listed on another page) as they are derived from Greek and Latin and very old world such as Telésforo, Hipólito, and Eluteria. A great many of them are derived from Christian terms as Catholicism had a tight hold on naming practices for centuries. However, as times change, so do naming practices. In the mid to late 1900's, many Puerto Rican children began to be given more typical American-English derived names.  The 21st century has seen a influx of original, hybrid names that are unique to the children who have them. Long gone are the days of being named for the holy nativity. While the religious names have fallen out of favor, the natural-world names such as Luna and Sol are still as popular as ever.  

The etymology of names is interesting in and of itself but if you look closer, names give genealogists insight into the population living in a particular town. 
Quick search 

Damas

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  • Alma - soul
  • Alondra - lark
  • Altagracia - high grace​
  • Aniceta - unconquerable <via Greek>
  • Ascensión/ Asunción - assumption Feast of Assumption' on August 15       
  • Belen - Bethlehem​                        ​
  • Braulia -​ gleaming <via German>
  • Caridad - charity​
  • Clotilde - from Chlotichilda <French via Germanic>; fame battle 
  • Concepción - conception​
  • Consolación - consolation​
  • Covadonga ​- cavern of the lady
  • Dalia - tree branch <Hebrew>
  • Elodia -​ foreign riches <Greek via French> from Alodia
  • Emperatriz - empress
  • Esperanza - hope​​
  • Flor - flower
  • Guadalupe - river of the wolf; <via Arabic>
  • Hortensia - hydrangea
  • Idalis - industrious one <via German>
  • Inocencia - innocence
  • Jacinta - hyacinth
  • Leticia - joy, gladness <Latin>           ​
  • Lourdes - craggy slope <Basque>​
  • Luna - moon
  • Luz - light
  • Mercedes - gracious gifts/ benefits
  • Natividad - Nativity
  • Oriana - dawn <Latin>
  • Pacificación - pacification/ maintaining peace
  • Paloma - dove: a Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit
  • Pascuala - related to Easter*
  • Reyna/Reina - queen
  • Remedios - remedy from 'Nuestra Señora de los Remedios' used in reference to the Virgin Mary
  • Rocío - dewdrops
  • Robustiana - well-built woman <Latin>
  • Rosalva - white rose <Italian>
  • Rosario - rosary
  • Salomé - peace <Hebrew>​
  • Sol - sun

Caballeros

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  • Aristides - ancient Greek statesman known as "the Just"
  • Atanacio - ​from Athanasius <vis Greek>; immortal               
  • Argeo - king of Argus <Greek>
  • Belisario -​ swordsman <Greek>
  • Benigno - kind, wellborn <Latin>
  • Buenaventura - good luck <Latin>
  • Canuto - Knut
  • Cirilo - Cyril
  • Eligio - elected
  • Emerito - Emeritus <Latin>; by merit​
  • Fermín - 3rd-century bishop St. Fermin beloved in Navarre​ <Basque>   
  • Fidel - faithful
  • Gumersindo - man's path <Germanic>​
  • Hipólito - Hippolytus <Greek>; mythological son of Theseus and Amazon
  • ​Isabelino - literally translated to Elizabethan (relating to Elizabeth)​
  • Meliton - honey <Greek>
  • Monserrate - notched mountain <via Latin>
  • Refugio - refuge
  • Renato - born again <via Latin>
  • Reposo - repose/rest
  • Salvador - savior
  • Sandalio - true wolf <via German> 9th-century Spanish saint
  • Santos - saints​
  • Severiano - from Severianus <Latin>; stern
  • Simplicio -​ a Catholic bishop of Zaragoza at the end of the sixth century.
  • Telésforo - bearing fruit <Galician from Greek>; Telesphoros - St. Telesphorus was a 2nd-century pope and martyr
  • Tiburcio - from Tiburtius <Latin>; meaning 'of Tibur' a city in Italy now Tivoli
  • Toribio - from Turibius <Latin>
  • Ucilo -

Damas Y Caballeros

  • Agripino/a - wild horse <via Roman from Greek>; m. Agrippa​
  • Anacleta/o - invoked <Latin via Greek> Anakletos
  • Anselmo/a - protection of God from Ansehelm <Germanic>
  • Balbino/a - stammerer <via Latin> f. Balbus
  • Baudilia/o - 3rd Century Saint Baudelius <Latin>        ​
  • Baernabe/Bernabela - child of prophecy <Hebrew>
  • Cayetano/a - from St. Gaetano  <Italian>
  • Candelaria/o - purification
  • Candela - candle
  • Cándida/o - white <via Latin>
  • Ceferino/a - the west wind; <via Portuguese via Latin via Greek>; m. Zephyros
  • Celestino/a - heavenly
  • Consuela/o - consolation
  • Cruz/Crucita - cross​​
  • Dolores - sorrows
  • Eleuterio/a - from Eleutherius <Greek>; free
  • Encarnación - ​​incarnation
  • Eustaquia/o - well-built <Greek>​
  • Fortunata/o - fortunate
  • Hermenegildo/a - complete sacrifice <via German>
  • Inocencio/a - innocence​​
  • Primitivo/a - first formed; St Primitivus a 3rd Century Spanish martyr
  • Renato/a - born again <via Latin>
  • Serafin/a - fiery ones <via Polish>; Seraphinus
  • Socorro - succour, help, relief​


“Los puertorriqueños estaban acostumbrados a transitar de isla en isla y de continente en continente como aves cuya condición natural era tránsito.”  ― Rosario Ferré, The House on the Lagoon

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