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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — ^PUBLICATION NO. 11 



There is apparent very little change. The ab- 

 sence of simple Carmen, Guadalupe, and Jesus in 

 the last two columns represents merely the more 

 meticulous attention to detail of the secretary of 

 the civil register than that exercised by the census 

 takers. Possibly Juana is being replaced by 

 Margarita in the youngest generations, but all 

 names from the 1941-44 and 1945 lists are to be 

 found among the more common names in 1940. 

 As was mentioned for the male names, there is 

 apparent very little tendency to name females 

 after popular movie stars, heroines of novels, and 

 the like. The female names of Quiroga can be 

 compared with those in the United States, where 

 presumably the most popular names are Mary, 

 Annie and Ann, Margaret, Elizabeth and variants, 

 Catherine, Sarah, Nellie, Frances, Lillian, and 

 Rose. 



ANALYSIS OF GIVEN NAMES 

 FEMALE NAMES 



Female given names fall more readily into 

 classes than do the names of males. The most 

 important class includes all names derived from 

 Mary the Mother of Jesus the Christ. During 

 the past 12 centuries the cult of Mary the ]\Iother 

 of God has ramified enormously within Christen- 

 dom. This has been most apparent within the 

 Romance or Latin Roman Catholic countries, and 

 especially during the past four centuries. An out- 

 standing development has been the great increase 

 in the festivals and popular devotions concerned 

 with Our Lady (Nuestra Seiiora) in her various 

 associations, attributes, special slu-ines and effi- 

 gies, etc. Biblical and apocryphal events and 

 more recent events and apparitions have given 

 rise to dozens of manifestations of Mary the Great 

 Intercessor. These various impersonations, as- 

 pects, representations, avatars, advocations, or 

 manifestations of Mary are the source of a major- 

 ity of Christian female names in Quiroga and 

 probably throughout Mexico and Latin America. 

 The most important is Maria (Mary) herself; 

 followed by (Maria) Guadalupe — associated with 

 a shrine in Spain, and with the leading shrine in 

 Mexico, at the site of the apparition of the Brown 

 Virgin, patroness of Mexico and of Latin America. 

 In third place is (Maria del) Carmen — associated 

 with the festival of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 

 Other leading forms include Maria as Nuestra 

 Seiiora of: Health or Salvation (Salud) — asso- 



ciated with the most miraculous santo in the 

 Pdtzcuaro Basin, that of N. S. Maria de Salud in 

 a Pdtzcuaro temple; Consolation (Consuelo); Hope 

 (Esperanza) — connected also with the nearby 

 shrine of N. S. de Esperanza in Zamora; Jesiis — 

 Mary as the Mother of Jesus or God; Immaculate 

 Conception (Concepci6n) — associated with the 

 patroness Maria Santisima, N. S. de la Purisima 

 Concepcidn, of all Indian hospitals in Michoacdn 

 including the church of the former hospital in 

 Quu'oga ; Sorrows or Dolours (Dolores) ; Soledad — 

 connected with the shrine of N. S. de la Soledad in 

 Mexico City; Help to Christians and Perpetual 

 Succour (Socorro); Light (Luz), probably influ- 

 enced by the shrine to Nuestra Madre de Luz in 

 Le6n of Guanajuato State; Mercies (Mercedes); 

 the Holy Rosary (Rosario) — based on the prayers 

 for victory at Lepanto in 1571; Translation or 

 Assumption (Trdnsito) ; the Blessed Virgin Mary 

 (Vu'ginia) ; Grace (Gracia) ; Refuge for Sinners 

 (Refugio) — associated with the shrine of N. S. del 

 Refugio in Puebla; Protection or Favor (Amparo); 

 Nativity (Natividad) ; Victory at Lepanto (Vic- 

 toria) ; Peace (Paz) ; Prodigies (Prodigios) ; Pillar 

 (Pilar) — from the shrine in Saragossa; Purity or 

 Piety (Piedad); Pm'ification or Candlemas (Can- 

 delaria) ; Miracle of the Snows (Nieves) ; etc. 

 Such forms, and Maria in combination -^vith such 

 names as Teresa and Luisa, comprise the names of 

 at least one-half of the females in the Quiroga area. 

 A second class comprises names that are essen- 

 tially the feminine equivalent of the names of 

 masculine saints. Occasionally they are saints' 

 names in their own rights. The leading repre- 

 sentatives of this class are Juana, Josefina and 

 Josefa, Antonia, Luisa, Francisca, Diega, Petra, 

 Rafaela, Lorenza, Agustina, Ignacia, and Julia. 

 Closely related, and not far behind in representa- 

 tion, is the class containing noted female saints. 

 Santa Teresa, possibly the greatest Spanish female 

 saint, has given her name to the greatest number. 

 Far behind are such as Margarita, Catalina, 

 Amalia, Elena, Beatriz, Emelia, Herminia, Au- 

 relia, and Melania. A fourth class is made up of 

 biblical names, commonly considered as saints. 

 Examples of this class are such names as Ester, 

 Sara, Isabel, Raquel, Magdalena, Ana and Anita, 

 Susana, and Abigail. A fifth class includes such 

 as Angela and Angelina, Trinidad, Aurora (from 

 a mass on Christmas Day), Cruz, Sacramento, 

 and Gloria (stressed in the Doxology) — all per- 



