Familia and our Names

          A few nights ago, I was thinking, "Wow -- I have a BIG family." My childhood life was loud, crazy and full of "Mami! Mami!" It made me laugh to think about how my Mom used to call out all of my sisters' names until she found the one she meant to call something like this: "Andrea! I mean - Anna! no no, Lucy! Roci!" There were too many little girls in our house and she'd have to go through the list of us to call the correct one up. Que risa, no?
        Also, there can be many repeated names in your family. Kinda like in that movie "Goodfellas." There's a scene when the family is being introduced and all the wives' names are Marie. What I've noticed about most Latino families is that we are extremely proud of our kids and want to name them after a notable relative who passed or maybe after our own names.

        This is why we have Jose, Jr. or Miguel, Jr. or Francisco el Grande and Francisco el Chiquito. I remember dating one guy, Alejandro, who was named after his Dad. When I first would call his house to talk to him on the phone and his sister would ask, "Who do you want to speak to?" and I would respond, "Alejandro." Well, his Dad would come on the phone. "A-lo?" Talk about awkward, right? I had to explain that I wanted the other Alejandro. Truly funny.

         Then, there are those of us who were named after an actor or actress in our Mom's favorite Telenovela. Or named after an American actress or actor they really liked when they first got to the United States. Perhaps even a singer or athlete. I've always wondered why my Mom chose my name. I wanted a name like my sisters' that sounded feminine, pretty and glamorous. They got Anna Lilia, Andrea Isabel and Lucía Noemi. I got stuck with 'Rocío'. Many years, I was upset about it. People to this day don't know how to pronounce it and I was embarrassed many times to be called 'Rico" or "Rocaco.' I am still surprised that no one called me 'radicchio'. I started asking people to call me Adrianna, my middle name. I wanted to feel more like a girl. I wanted to feel more Latina.

        As the years went by and I came into my own, I decided that I liked my name. My Mom had chosen it for me. I was different than my sisters in that I didn't have any a's in my name but I felt that it represented that I was unique and this was a chance to make it feminine, pretty and glamorous, make it Latin. I am part of a family of different names and a family comprised of different personalities. It wasn't so much that I got stuck with an odd name but more that it was stuck with me. 
        So, what's in a name? What's in your family name? Do you like being named after your Mom? or your Dad? or your Abuelito? or that really cool Uncle who knew how to play futbol really well? In the grand scheme of things, what does your last name matter to you? Do you have nicknames like most of us do?

           I still wonder how we get those "apodos." Why do they call your cousin "El Flaco?" or why do they call your Tio Enrique: 'El Tio Kike?' Your 'Tio Serafin' becomes 'Tio Chafin' and your Abuelito Lorenzo becomes "Abuelito Lencho?" Where did this customizing begin? I think it has to do with showing love, showing that personal connection. Just like some words like 'preciosa' turn into 'pechocha'. All of sudden, it depicts a closeness, a relationship. You feel that it's got some tenderness attached to it. We've embraced your name and therefore now made it our own. If we Latinos bring anything to our names, and our family members, it's definitely warmth.