Re: [ranchos] Surnames

[rosario ellis <rosarioellis@...>]

Thanks for the very nice and informative e-mail on the
surnames.
--- Pacorro73@... wrote:

>   
> Ranchos,
>  
> Soon after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico and
> thereafter during Colonial 
> times, the ruling Españoles did not permit the
> Native Indians from possessing 
> surnames unless the Indios were of a special allied
> family, the Indios somehow had 
> earned themselves a surname, or eventually the
> adopted a surname out of names 
> that were not necessarily surnames.
>  
> Reyes is one such last name.  Every year on January
> 6, the Catholic Church 
> celebrates the Feast Day of the Epiphany, or Feast
> of the Magi, when the three 
> wise king visited the Baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  In
> Mexico and Spain the day is 
> called Epifanía or â??Día de los Reyes Magos.â?? 
> The â??Reyesâ?? were called 
> Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar.  So as a result of
> this holy day, many children born 
> on or near the holy-day were named one or a
> combination of the following:  
> José Epifánio, María Epifánia, José de los
> Reyes, María de los Reyes, Melchor, 
> Melchora, Gaspar, or Baltazar.
>  
> This is essentially what happened to children born
> on other saint feast days. 
>  San Juan de la Cruzâ??s feast day prompted many
> children to be called Juan de 
> la Cruz, Juana de la Cruz, José de la Cruz, María
> de la Cruz, etc.  That is 
> why so many Indios have the surname Cruz or De la
> Cruz.  Same thing with 
> surnames like Rosa, Rosas, De la Rosa, Bautista
> (after San Juan Bautista-St. John the 
> Baptist), Trinidad (La Santísima Trinidad),
> Concepción (La Inmaculada 
> Concepción), De Jesús, Ignacio, Xavier, Aquino
> (Santo Tomás Aquino-St. Thomas 
> Aquinas), and many, many more I donâ??t remember
> right now.  
>  
> Many Indians children were baptized with these
> names, and over time surnames 
> such as Reyes, de los Reyes, Melchor, Gaspar,
> Baltazar, etc., began to appear, 
> not just in Mexico, but in other colonies, like the
> Philippines, Cuba, and 
> Puerto Rico.  That is how the native Tagalog, or
> freed African slaves got their 
> last names also.  
>  
> As an example, I can relate the tale of my
> motherâ??s maiden name, López.  My 
> motherâ??s direct male line was López going back
> every generation until about 
> 1720 or 1730.  When I got back this far, I
> discovered who my first male López 
> ancestor was.  His name was Jacinto López, son of
> Juan Antonio de los Reyes and 
> María Anna López, both Indios.   As you can see,
> Jacinto López obviously used 
> his motherâ??s surname.  And that has been the
> surname used by my motherâ??s 
> family, even though it should be de los Reyes.  Juan
> Antonio de los Reyes and María 
> Anna López, thus became the progenitors of the
> Indio surname López de los 
> Reyes. 
>  
> But, not everyone who used these names were Indios,
> Mestizos, Mulatos, or 
> Esclavos.  Los Españoles also used these names
> also.  I have begun to wonder if 
> these Españoles used them because they were Jewish
> or Moorish conversos?  
> Hhmmmhh???  I have an ancestress (actually several)
> who went by the name Melchora 
> de los Reyes (named after Melchor, the Wise King),
> and she was an española.  
> The first one then gave her name to her daughter,
> another Melchora de los Reyes, 
> and then to her granddaughter, the third Melchora de
> los Reyes.
>  
> Well I hope this data is helpful or insightful to
> you all.  Good bye and God 
> bless.
>  
> Sincerely,
> Steven Francisco Hernández Gamiño y López de los
> Reyes
> (aka: Steven F. Hernández-López)
> 


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