Mexican Names

One of the hardest parts of teaching over 100 students in a year is learning all of the names. In a new country, where the names are unfamiliar and more complicated to pronounce, it makes it all the more difficult.

In Mexico, many of my students have two first names. I had my students sign their names to the attendance sheet the first day, and when I looked it over after class, I was very discouraged. There was no way I’d learn all 125 students’ names when each student had four names. Sneakily, I had them sign up for www.edmodo.com which requires just one first name, and, of course, they put the name by which they'd want to be called. I notice that the majority of them put their first, first name, and so, I decide that must be the name they go by. But then I make the mistake of calling a student, Luis, because on the attendence sheet this is what he writes for his first, first name. “No, I don’t like that name,” he tells me,”Call me Daniel,” which I would have thought was his middle name.

Sometimes they have a nickname on top of their two given names. For example, Obdulia is Duly and Lourdes is Lulu and my friend Jesus, is Chucho. Which makes me quintuplely confused.

So, finally, I just asked a student one day to explain the naming system here.

This student, who writes Guadelupe on all of her papers, tells me usually children are named after the saint that is celebrated on their birthday, but sometimes not, if the parents decided they don’t like the saint’s name of that particular day. For example, I have about four students named Guadelupe – named after the Virgen de Guadelupe (aka María, the Mexican Virgen Mary). The second name is just

a name the parents like. The parents, and then later, the child, will choose the name they want to be called. Guadelupe, however, only has one first name.

“I was born first, and my parents didn’t like the Saint for that day, so they named me Guadelupe. Then my sister was born on el 12 de diciembre (El día de la Virgen de Guadelupe). So, her name is Guadelupe, too.”

“So what do your parents call you when you are together then?“ I ask in amazement.

"Pues, I’m called Lupe, and ella se llama Lupita."

Lupe also has two last names. Her first last name is her paternal last name, and the second comes from her mother.

If a student comes in with a name of Pablo Francisco Aguilar Montana, he could be called Pablo or Francisco depending on his or his family’s preference. His mother’s paternal last name is Montana and his father’s paternal last name is Aguilar. Got it?

This is why US schools get into cultural trouble when Hispanic children enter our school system.  We assume Francisco is the middle name (which is not necessarily true), and we would drop the Aguilar because, in the US, we put the mother’s last name (if it has survived) before the father’s. So, the student is legally registered as Pablo Montana. And now we have completely wiped out the paternal apellido, which is a huge insult to the father. Confused? Yeah, it is better just to ask the family when they come in for registration.

“So, qué pasa when you get married?” I ask.

She says, “Es diferente acá than in the states. The woman doesn’t take her husband's name here.”

I’m shocked, “En todo Mexico?” I ask.

“Sí,” she says, smiling. “I will keep my name forever. A long time ago, women would keep their last names and then add “de” plus their husband’s paternal last name. Allá, in the states, some Mexicans adapt to the culture and will do this too, but here we are equals now.” She says this proudly.

Another interesting fact is that because of the Spanish conquest of the land and more sadly, the indigenous women, there really aren’t that many different last names. If two people have the same last name, you cannot assume they are related, or that they even know each other. So, a students’ parents could legitimately have the same last name, for instance, Ana Florisel Hernandez Hernandez. And, she could easily marry Juan Carlos Hernandez Ramirez, get married in the states and become Ana Florisel Hernandez Hernandez de Hernandez!