In searching marriage records in Sagrario (Asunción), Aguascalientes
in the early 1700's late 1600's I have noted more than the expected
number of brides and grooms who use their mother's surname. I usually
expect that these are natural children, but the number of occurances
suggests a matronymic naming pattern. Does anyone know if this was the
case in that time period?
I am not asserting that this is true: I am asking whether anyone else
has any knowledge of this. Maybe it was just sloppy record keeping.
BTW, I appreciated the comments regarding "help with name forms". They
were most helpful.
Stuart---Most of us have found that many times legitimate children were given the surnames of maternal parents and grandparents. I think the reason was the prominence of the maternal line over a paternal line lower on the social scale? I have found that some of my father's ancestors in Zacatecas and my husband's ancestors from Jalisco and Aguascalientes from the early 1700s on down kept switching names, using any of three or more surnames. Made it so difficult to find them and keep them straight.
Emilie
Port Orchard, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: Stuart Armstrong
To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 9:26 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] matronymic practice
In searching marriage records in Sagrario (Asunción), Aguascalientes
in the early 1700's late 1600's I have noted more than the expected
number of brides and grooms who use their mother's surname. I usually
expect that these are natural children, but the number of occurances
suggests a matronymic naming pattern. Does anyone know if this was the
case in that time period?
I am not asserting that this is true: I am asking whether anyone else
has any knowledge of this. Maybe it was just sloppy record keeping.
BTW, I appreciated the comments regarding "help with name forms". They
were most helpful.
I found the marriage records from the mid to late 1600's in Chilchota Michoacan very hard to follow since not only the mother but the grandmothers surname was used. Sometimes I had to wait until there were children being baptised to be sure they were the same people. I also found this in other lines in the same time period in Jalisco.
Linda in B.C.
--- On Sun, 8/17/08, Stuart Armstrong wrote:
From: Stuart Armstrong
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] matronymic practice
To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
Date: Sunday, August 17, 2008, 9:26 PM
In searching marriage records in Sagrario (Asunción), Aguascalientes
in the early 1700's late 1600's I have noted more than the expected
number of brides and grooms who use their mother's surname. I usually
expect that these are natural children, but the number of occurances
suggests a matronymic naming pattern. Does anyone know if this was the
case in that time period?
I am not asserting that this is true: I am asking whether anyone else
has any knowledge of this. Maybe it was just sloppy record keeping.
BTW, I appreciated the comments regarding "help with name forms".
They
were most helpful.
In Iberian (Spanish and Portuguese) naming tradition, there was in no way any propensity or expectation that children would receive their father's surname. Often if the mother's family was more prominent, the children would take the mother's surname.
Even more unique was the tradition of naming a child after a person, i.e. grandparent, respected neighbor, etc. by giving the child the entire name, including surname, so it is very common to find girls that use their MATERNAL grandmother's name since that is whom they were named after.
It was not until the early 1700s that the paternal name tradition began to gain traction and not until around the time of the Bourbon reforms and Independence that the current paternal-maternal combination was made the standard.
matronymic practice
In searching marriage records in Sagrario (Asunción), Aguascalientes
in the early 1700's late 1600's I have noted more than the expected
number of brides and grooms who use their mother's surname. I usually
expect that these are natural children, but the number of occurances
suggests a matronymic naming pattern. Does anyone know if this was the
case in that time period?
I am not asserting that this is true: I am asking whether anyone else
has any knowledge of this. Maybe it was just sloppy record keeping.
BTW, I appreciated the comments regarding "help with name forms". They
were most helpful.
Best regards,
Stuart mailto:stuartarms@gmail.com
matronymic practice
Stuart---Most of us have found that many times legitimate children were given the surnames of maternal parents and grandparents. I think the reason was the prominence of the maternal line over a paternal line lower on the social scale? I have found that some of my father's ancestors in Zacatecas and my husband's ancestors from Jalisco and Aguascalientes from the early 1700s on down kept switching names, using any of three or more surnames. Made it so difficult to find them and keep them straight.
Emilie
Port Orchard, WA
----- Original Message -----
From: Stuart Armstrong
To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 9:26 PM
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] matronymic practice
In searching marriage records in Sagrario (Asunción), Aguascalientes
in the early 1700's late 1600's I have noted more than the expected
number of brides and grooms who use their mother's surname. I usually
expect that these are natural children, but the number of occurances
suggests a matronymic naming pattern. Does anyone know if this was the
case in that time period?
I am not asserting that this is true: I am asking whether anyone else
has any knowledge of this. Maybe it was just sloppy record keeping.
BTW, I appreciated the comments regarding "help with name forms". They
were most helpful.
Best regards,
Stuart mailto:stuartarms@gmail.com
matronymic practice
I found the marriage records from the mid to late 1600's in Chilchota Michoacan very hard to follow since not only the mother but the grandmothers surname was used. Sometimes I had to wait until there were children being baptised to be sure they were the same people. I also found this in other lines in the same time period in Jalisco.
Linda in B.C.
--- On Sun, 8/17/08, Stuart Armstrong wrote:
From: Stuart Armstrong
Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] matronymic practice
To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
Date: Sunday, August 17, 2008, 9:26 PM
In searching marriage records in Sagrario (Asunción), Aguascalientes
in the early 1700's late 1600's I have noted more than the expected
number of brides and grooms who use their mother's surname. I usually
expect that these are natural children, but the number of occurances
suggests a matronymic naming pattern. Does anyone know if this was the
case in that time period?
I am not asserting that this is true: I am asking whether anyone else
has any knowledge of this. Maybe it was just sloppy record keeping.
BTW, I appreciated the comments regarding "help with name forms".
They
were most helpful.
Best regards,
Stuart mailto:stuartarms@gmail.com
Maternal Surnames
Stuart:
In Iberian (Spanish and Portuguese) naming tradition, there was in no way any propensity or expectation that children would receive their father's surname. Often if the mother's family was more prominent, the children would take the mother's surname.
Even more unique was the tradition of naming a child after a person, i.e. grandparent, respected neighbor, etc. by giving the child the entire name, including surname, so it is very common to find girls that use their MATERNAL grandmother's name since that is whom they were named after.
It was not until the early 1700s that the paternal name tradition began to gain traction and not until around the time of the Bourbon reforms and Independence that the current paternal-maternal combination was made the standard.