Yesterday I decided to write a post on my language learning blog,
Sitzman ABC, about naming customs and the differences between names in the U.S. and in Costa Rica. It turns out I bit off more than I could chew, because at about 2:30 am I had only finished the first half (about Costa Rica), and it was already long.
I'm only mentioning this because it
actually seems more like the type of thing I'd put on this blog, since most of the people who read
Sitzman ABC are my students, and they already know plenty about Costa Rican naming customs (Note: you're certainly more than welcome to follow
Sitzman ABC directly or
on Facebook, even if you're not Costa Rican!). I also noticed that this is a topic that has frequently come up in conversation with my friends and family in the U.S., who often think that Angela's last name is "Mora" (hint: it's not, but you'll have to read the article to find out why!).
As a result, I decided to re-post the article here. I think that's Kosher in terms of copyright and everything, since I wrote the article in the first place. So, without further ado, here's the article in its complete form:
Different Countries, Different Names: Costa Rica
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The Jim�nez Coat of Arms. Jim�nez is one of the most common last names
in Costa Rica, and it's one of my wife's two last names. Image: Wikimedia |
I've been wanting to write a post about naming customs in different countries, since it's a common conversation topic with my students and also with my friends and family back in the U.S. I know that this sometimes depends on the individual person and/or family, but from what I've noticed, names in Costa Rica and in the U.S. follow patterns, but they're different in a few important ways. Today we'll look at Costa Rican naming patterns, and in a few days we'll look at patterns in the U.S. If you have any observations, comments, or corrections, or if you're Costa Rican and your name follows a different pattern, I'd love to hear from you!
Names In Costa Rica
Almost everyone in the country has four names. There is a national ID card called a c�dula for people over 18 years old, and the c�dula generally has a person's four names. In normal social interactions, though, people often introduce themselves with only one or two names, or even a nickname. Let's look at an example of a typical female name in Costa Rica:
Mar�a Andrea Rodr�guez Campos
(By the way, I just invented that name, but I would bet money that there's at least one woman in Costa Rica with that exact name!) So, in our example,
Mar�a Andrea is this woman's name/s (
nombre/s in Spanish). Since
Mar�a is one of the most common
first names in Costa Rica, it's often not mentioned, and sometimes it's abbreviated "Ma." as in "Ma. Fernanda." There aren't many "rules" for the two names, and parents usually choose to name a child after a relative, or they just choose a name that they think sounds good (even if it often doesn't!). Occasionally parents even give their children a
third name, often related to religion. Common examples are (name 1) + (name 2) +
de Jes�s / de la Trinidad / de los �ngeles / del Carmen / etc. Oh, and a quick note: "Mar�a Jos�" is a girl's name, and "Jos� Mar�a" is a boy's name. That always caused me problems at first!
In this example,
Rodr�guez Campos is the woman's last name/s (called "
apellidos" in Spanish). This is where it gets confusing if you're not used to these naming customs. The
first last name, "Rodr�guez" in this case, is from the father. The
second last name, "Campos," is from the mother. If Mar�a Andrea gets married later in her life, she will almost certainly
not change her last names. Occasionally, especially in the past, a woman might add her husband's last name at the end after "
de"; For example, if Mar�a Andrea married John Schneider, she
could call herself "
Mar�a Andrea Rodr�guez Campos de Schneider," but this custom is pretty rare these days, at least in Costa Rica. You may have noticed, however, that the Argentinean President,
Christina Fern�ndez de Kirchner, followed this practice, so it may be more common in other countries or in certain situations.
A note: there are some
very common last names in Costa Rica, such as Rodr�guez, Gonz�lez, Jim�nez, Araya, or Hern�ndez; these are the "Smiths" and "Johnsons" of Central America, apparently! In some cases, a person's mother
and father may have the same first last name, even if they're definitely from different families. If that happens, say with two parents with the first last name "Rodr�guez," then their kids would simply be named "(name) + (name) + Rodr�guez Rodr�guez."
As a result of these naming practices, in a hypothetical nuclear family consisting of a mom, a dad, a daughter, and a son, there would be three different last name combinations. The father would have his two last names, the mother would have her two last names, and the kids would both have the father's first last name followed by the mother's first last name. Does that make sense, or are you as confused as I was when I arrived here?
So how do you address a Costa Rican person? Well, if you're asking for someone on the phone or in person, it's common to ask for him or her using one or both names and the first last name. In our example, you'd ask for "Mar�a Andrea Rodr�guez" if you didn't know her personally. If you knew her personally and knew that she preferred to be called "Andrea," then you might also ask for "Andrea Rodr�guez." If it were an informal situation and you knew her personally --and you knew that she didn't object to the title-- you might possibly ask for "Do�a Andrea," but this can also lead to problems. Do�a (Don for men) is a title of respect paired with a person's first name, but it often is used only for older and/or married men and women. My wife Angela, for example, hates to be called "Do�a Angela." I personally wouldn't mind being called "Don Ryan," since it makes me think of The Godfather's "Don Corleone" or the legendary lover "Don Juan," but the connotations aren't as positive or interesting with Do�a. So be careful with that one!
As always, there are probably numerous exceptions to these rules, but from what I've noticed, the broad majority of Costa Ricans' names follow these patterns. Like I mentioned before, no matter where you're from, I'd love to hear any comments you might have about this article.
Thanks for reading, and in a couple of days we'll look at naming customs in the U.S.A.
Have a great day!
