QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MTINICIPIO — BRAJSTD 



87 



CHANGES IN SURNAMES 



For comparative purposes, 1,092 names were 

 checked in the civil register hsts of births, 

 deaths, and marriages for scattered years from 

 1860 to 1873 (marriages 1860-63, births 1862-63 

 and 1873, deaths 1860-64). We may assume that 

 the recorded 1,092 names represent an adequate 

 cross section of the population of Quiroga some 

 two generations ago. During the 1860-73 period 

 there were represented 264 family names, which 

 is slightly more than the 252 names in 1940. At 

 the earlier period there were 114 names not present 

 in 1940, but 102 names on the 1940 list were 

 lacking. Most of these changes probably were 

 in the famihes represented by only 1 or 2 individ- 

 uals, of which there were 1 10 in 1940. Apparently 

 the majority of the additions and losses of family 

 names can be attributed to the temporary intro- 

 duction of a name through marriage of a Quiroga 

 man with a woman from the outside. From other 

 sources we know that such marriages took place 

 rather frequently within a radius of about 15 

 miles, and especially with women from the 

 neighboring towns of Tzintzuntzan, Santa Fe, 

 San Jer6nimo, San Andres, and Ptltzcuaro, and 

 the westerly ranchos dependent on Morelia. A 

 less important source of change is to be found in 

 the movements of State and Federal employees 

 (tax collectors, soldiers, post-office employees, 

 school teachers, highway workers, physicians, and 

 the like), transport workers (arrieros, choferes, 

 etc.), merchants, and artisans and craftsmen 

 (masons, carpenters, painters, shoemakers, etc.). 



The most notable change during the past two 

 generations was in the ranking of the family 

 names. Some families, such as the Barriga, 

 Gonzalez, Fuentes, Chdvez, Garcia, Calderdn, 

 Rodriguez, L6pez, Medina, Pena, Valdovinos, 

 Ortiz, Torres, Guzmdn, Ponce, and Gutierrez 

 have maintained themselves in the upper brackets. 

 A number have made great gains, such as the 

 Herrera, Campuzano, Estrada, Diaz, and Flores 

 families; and yet greater increases were registered 

 by the Coria, Hernandez, ChagoUa, Rivera, Ruiz, 

 Anita, Vdzquez, Vargas, Arriaga, Pineda, and 

 Judrez famihes. Great decrease is indicated for 

 the Ramirez, Martinez, Rojas, Zavala, Perez, 

 Rangel, Aguilar, Valdes, Le6n, Sanchez, Sierra, 

 Castaneda, Delgado, Salmerdn, ViUanueva, and 



other families. Some numerous families of the 

 1860's have become extinguished, such as the 

 Duarte, Nava, Navarro, Tinoco, Cuiriz, Olachia, 

 Salgado, Moreno, Olguin, Ontiveros, Onate, Pizano, 

 and Sayago. On the contrary, there are 10 new 

 or renewed families, with more than 15 individuals 

 each, namely, the Tovar, Farias, Cdzarez, Garnica, 

 Gasca, ViUalobos, Moran, SLxtos, Mihan, and 

 Frutos. 



The ranking of the top 43 families in the period 

 1860-73 was as follows: 



Lacking precise information for most of the 

 cases of extinguished families, and for families 

 which have declined in representation, we must 

 present a combination of theory and historical 

 fact to explain the phenomenon of decrease. 

 Although more males are born than females, more 

 females survive, and there is normally a slightly 

 larger number of females than males in the total 

 population. When this general trend is united 

 with the birth or survival only of females in a 

 majority of the family groups with the same sur- 

 name there results a general diminution of persons 

 with that surname. So long as one or more males 

 survive long enough to have progeny there is no 

 extinction of the family name; but the coincidence 

 of several successive generations of female pre- 

 dominance together with considerable impotency 

 and celibacy among the males will extinguish the 

 line. Along with this set of events is the emigra- 



