Names

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Latin America’s custom of naming its residents, here’s a quick crash course.  Everyone has two last names, one from the mother’s side and the other from the father.  But what I find interesting are the first names.  Most Hispanics also have two first names.  Recently, Nicaragua has caught “trendy name” fever.  Example: the following attendance list.

Glad I'm not in charge of role call

Obviously Maria, Guadalupe and Jose are by far the most popular names.  But look closer.  Here are my favorites:

Jackeling.  Both –ck- and -ing do not exist in the Spanish.

Brayan.  Spanish for Brian

Stiven.  St as a prefix doesn’t exist.  Spanish for Steven but probably pronounced Esteven.

Esnayder.  Spanish for Schneider?

Junieth and Nazareth.  “Th” doesn’t happen in Spanish and is unnecessary since h’s are silent.

Eveling.  There’s that suffix –ing again.

Maybe my favorite story is about my friend Jadder.  When his mom went to get his birth certificate she told them Yader, a fairly popular Hispanic name.  They got it wrong and he is now officially Jadder – an uncommon name even in Spanish.