The Seventeenth Evolution of Names

THE SEVENTEENTH Evolution of names The names imposed on the boys and girls of Agüimes all belong to the Christian calendar, although the attraction to them was not equal. While some were widely and repeatedly used, others were only used once and while some remained throughout the century, others were disappearing, or were incorporated following new fashions, beatifications or trends, as would be the case of the compound names that would be consolidated in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. From 1602 to 1625 48 male and 35 female names were used, a situation that will change little in the following quarter of a century since men will use 49 different names and women 43, but in relation to the previous period men abandon 12 names, 36 are repeated and 13 new ones are introduced. among them: Alexander, Charles, Gabriel, Jerome, Lorenzo and Paul. The women abandon five names from the previous period, repeat 13 and introduce 13 new ones, among them: Andrea, Inés, Jacomina, Juliana, Marcelina and Teresa. From 1651 to 1675 there was an important increase in the number of names, the largest of the century in terms of percentage, and so men used 70 different names, of which 47 were repeated, eight were abandoned and 23 new ones were introduced, such as: Ambrosio, Félix, Fernando, Ignacio, Mateo, Silvestre or Tiburcio. The women used 77 different names, of which 41 were repeated, four were abandoned and 36 new ones were introduced, including Agustina, Andrea, Brígida, Bernarda, Casilda, Jerónima, Laura, Micaela, Marcela, Manuela, Petronila, Silvestra, Simona and Teodora. In the last quarter of a century there seems to have been a renewal of names, since a significant number of those used between 1651 and 1675 were abandoned and, on the contrary, the compound names were consolidated. The men used 85 different names, abandoning 22 from the previous period, repeating 42 and introducing 33 new ones, such as: Angel, Benedict, Bernard, Clement, Leonardo, Nicholas, Timothy or Vincent. Women will use 94 different names, abandoning 16 from the previous period, repeating 52 and introducing 42 new nominations, of which 31 refer to compound names and among the simple names of new imposition, Alfonsa, Constanza, Dorotea, Estebana, Fabiana, Leandra or Tomasina stand out. Throughout the century, 59 different names were maintained. Of these, 32 belong to men and 27 to women. Among which are the most repeated, such as: Juan, Francisco, Sebastián, José, María, Ana, Catalina and Isabel, but there are also those that with a reduced number of uses managed to maintain themselves throughout the century, such as: Esteban, Jorge, Martín, Roque, Lucrecia, Felipa, Magdalena, Melchora, Rufina, Tomasa or Úrsula. Of the long list of names used throughout the century by boys and girls of Agüimes (see appendix), on many occasions the use was testimonial, since 100 of these names, 47 of men and 53 of women, representing 41.15% of the total, were only used once and given the high infant mortality of the time, The survival of many of these names should not have lasted long beyond the baptismal ceremony. The use of names is even more restricted if we take into account that a large number of other names would not be used on more than three occasions and to this should be added the high number of women's names that are feminized from a male name, and this has been observed on 35 occasions. so that most of the elections, when it came to imposing a name, fell on a small number of them. Children's names are concentrated in a limited number. The most used was John, which alone represents 25.48% of use with 602 cases, it seems that it is the name that enjoys an advantage since the attraction of being the one possessed by the beloved disciple of Jesus joins that of John the Baptist, characters close to Christ and hence his protection is sought by bearing this name. He is followed in importance by Francis, with 347 cases, which shows the influence of the Franciscan Order in the Canary Islands and in seeking protection from the patron saint of the poor. Next is Sebastián, he is the parish patron saint of the town of Agüimes, therefore a close saint, let's say a family saint, under whose protection 7% of the baptized children were born. He is followed by Joseph, the husband of the Virgin. These four names represent 52.33% of use and all of them are feminized and with a significant use by women. These are followed by a prominent group of names that occupy 19.74% and in which the names of Peter, to whom Jesus entrusted his Church; Louis; Bartolomé, with a wide popular devotion and surely influenced, his election in Agüimes, the closeness of the patron saint of Tiraján with whom they maintained important relations and sometimes the parish priests of Agüimes had previously been parish priests of San Bartolomé; There are also Cristobal, Diego, Salvador, Gregorio and Antonio. Another important group, which represents 11.94%, is made up of Andrés, Melchior, Domingo, Manuel, Gaspar, Simón, Lázaro, Marcos, Tomás and Miguel, a saint who is also close to the population as he is the patron saint of the hermitage of Temisas. The last group of frequently used names, with 7.15%, is made up of names such as: Fernando, Matías, Blas, Felipe, Lorenzo, Alonso, Baltasar, Bernabé, Gabriel, Lucas and Pablo. In conclusion, we see that children bear the names of saints or martyrs close to Christ, or other names that are familiar to them because they are close, such as certain parish patrons or members of religious orders. In this way the apostles, with the exception of James, are all represented; the evangelists; the Three Kings; people from the Holy Family, such as Joseph and Manuel; friends of Christ like Lazarus; local martyrs and saints such as: Lawrence, Sebastian, and Miguel, and the important Franciscan and Dominican saints, the latter with a presence in Agüimes since 1661 with the creation of the convent of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves.14 The girls' names are further concentrated around a few nominations. The use of Mary, the Mother of God, stands out, which was carried by 708 girls, representing 29.63% of use, and from it most of the compound names were created. Undoubtedly, it is the best choice when placing a daughter under the protection of Our Lady. Mary is followed by her mother's name, Anne, with 232 elections and Catherine with 206. These three names account for 47.97% of utilization. Next in importance, with 14.56%: Isabel, cousin of the Virgin, and feminized names such as Juana and Sebastiana, the latter in honor of the parish patron and with 4.26% acceptance. An important group that reaches 17.50% is made up of: Francisca, Josefa, Luisa, Beatriz, Lucía, Gregoria, Leonor and Margarita. With a lower representation, 8.07%, we have a group made up of: Águeda, Elvira, Andrea, Marina, Ángela, Inés, Mariana, Felipa, Tomasa, Antonia and Mencía. In the names of women, as has already been noted, the feminization of them can be observed from a masculine one, but those of the Holy Family or close to it such as Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, Juana or Josefa also stand out; martyrs such as Lucia and representatives of religious orders such as Catherine, Francesca, Bernarda, Antonia or Teresa.