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    • Main contributor: Maor Malul

    Mesoamerican and Andean surnames are surnames of indigenous origin found in the countries of the Americas south of the Rio Grande, which separates Mexico from the USA.

    History of Mesoamerican and Andean Surnames

    Mesoamerican and Andean surnames
    Mesoamerican and Andean surnames

    The Spanish colonies of the Americas inherited the naming customs from Spain, where the use of the surname was imposed in 1501 by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain and Confessor of Queen Isabel the Catholic, to standardize the records of the empire and be able to identify people by families. As per his decree, the surname of the father of every household was fixed and became that of his descendants.[1]

    In Mexico, before the arrival of the Spaniards, most indigenous people did not have surnames; they only had a given name with a patronymic, and sometimes a nickname or noble title if they were important people. During the mass conversions to Catholicism, indigenous Mexicans chose a Spanish name at the moment of their baptism, adding a Spanish surname as their first surname and their original, indigenous given name as their second surname. For example, a Nahua Indian named Xóchitl (given name) Cuauhtémoc (patronymic) would choose at baptism to become Luis Rodríguez Xóchitl. As second surnames were not inherited, these surnames were lost in the next generation, which explains why most Mexican indigenous surnames are rare, except the Tlaxcalan Nahuas, which as allies of the Spaniards were permitted to keep their indigenous name as a first surname,[2] and the Mayas from the Yucatan Peninsula, which already had an established tradition of patronymic surnames, perhaps owing to their solid written culture -Maya literature is among the oldest in the world, spanning two millennia from the 3rd century BC to the present.[3]

    Burial niche of Bernarda Méndez de Quijivix. Guatemala, 1997.
    Burial niche of Bernarda Méndez de Quijivix. Guatemala, 1997.

    In Venezuela and Colombia, the Wayuu people are organized in e'irukuu, or matrilineal clans, usually represented by a totemic animal. When the Wayuu people were finally evangelized in the late 19th century, most chose the name of their clan as their surname. As most wayuus still marry within their own community, albeit not necessarily with the same clan, surnames of Wayuu origin are still common in Northeastern Colombia and Western Venezuela, the areas traditionally known as Wajiira' by the Wayuus.[4]

    Mesoamerican and Andean naming conventions

    Following Spanish naming customs, Hispanic people typically take two surnames, one from their paternal side and one from the maternal side, with the paternal surname coming first. Across Latin America, people use two surnames, inheriting their first surname from their fathers and their second from their mothers, a practice brought by the Spanish colonial authorities and made mandatory in the 19th century.[1] Children of single parents generally have only one surname.[5] However, in recent times, some countries like Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay have allowed reversing the order of the surnames.

    Tombstone of Juan Cuatepotzo Muñoz. Tlaxcala, Mexico, 1987.
    Tombstone of Juan Cuatepotzo Muñoz. Tlaxcala, Mexico, 1987.

    In most Latin American countries, especially in high-society environments, the husband's surname is added after the woman's surname using the conjunction de (of). Thus Amalia González, married to Luis Zubillaga, may be addressed as Amalia González de Zubillaga. However, this format has no legal value, except in Argentina, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.[6]

    While most Native Americans and Mestizos received a Spanish surname when they were baptized in the days of the colony, as early as the late 1600s, in some regions with a large majority of Native Americans, like the Guajira Peninsula in Venezuela and Colombia,[7] the Andean Plateau and the Yungas between Peru and Bolivia, the Guatemalan Highlands, the Central and Chiapas Highlands in Mexico, the Araucanía in Chile and Argentina and the whole of Paraguay (the only Latin American country with an indigenous official language spoken by 90% of the population).[8] Surnames in the local indigenous languages are common, usually denoting the name of the clan or a totem of the Native American nation the person belongs to or a toponymic, and on some occasions, occupational surnames of Native American origin can be found as well. Unfortunately, misspellings were common because the registrars were not speakers of the local languages and the Native American languages were not written languages back then.[9][10][11]

    Most common Hispanic surnames of Native American origin

    In some countries, especially in those with a large percentage of indigenous people, surnames of these origins are common. In some parts of Latin America like Paragauy and its surrounding Guaraní-spearing regions in Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia, several surnames were absorbed into Spanish surnames due to their similarity, which was combined with the desire for social mobility, with Koria becoming Correa, Arandá becoming Aranda and Berá becoming Vera.[12]

    Quispe

    Quispe, a surname of Quechua origin meaning "clear, transparent"[1] is perhaps the most common indigenous surname in the Americas, carried by over 1.2 million Peruvians,[13] 200,000 Bolivians, 15,000 Argentinians, 5,000 Ecuadorians, and 3,000 Chileans and Spaniards.[14] One interesting aspect is the presence of spelling variants in Ecuador, where the language is called Kichwa and follows a different standard, which then adds over 25,000 and 10,000 individuals carrying the variations Quishpe and Quishpi, respectively.

    Mamani

    Mamani is a popular surname of Aymara origin, meaning "falcon"[15] is a very popular surname in South America, being carried by over 730,000 people in Bolivia, 269,000 people in Peru, 45,000 in Argentina, 8,000 people in Chile and 3,000 people in Spain.[16]

    Xicotencatl

    Xicotencatl is the most common Nahuatl surname in Mexico, meaning "at the edge of the bumblebees" and carried by over 7,000 people in Mexico and around 200 in the USA, taking into account their spelling variant Xicohtencatl[17]

    Chan

    Chan"small" (unrelated to the Chinese surname Chan) is the most common Mayan surname; it is estimated that at least 97,000 Mexicans, 22,000 Guatemalans, and 2,500 Belizeans have this surname.[18]

    Uriana

    Uriana"those with stealthy eyes" is the most common indigenous surname in Venezuela and Colombia and is of Wayuu origin; it is estimated that at least 26,000 Colombians and 6,000 Venezuelans have this surname.[19]

    Mella

    Mella is the most common Mapuche surname among the 8.627 registered Mapuche surnames,[20] meaning "gold" and carried by over 20,000 Chileans and 2,000 Argentinians, with some spelling variants like Mellao and Milla, carried by around a thousand Argentinians and 5,000 Chileans, respectively.[21]

    Yahari

    Yahari, meaning "we don't believe what we are told" is the most common Guaraní surname, with over 2,000 people carrying it in Paraguay[12] and a few hundred in Argentina and Brazil as well.[22]

    Other common Mesoamerican and Andean surnames

    Wayuu surnames
    Aymara surnames
    Quechua surnames
    Mayan surnames
    Mapuche surnames
    Guaraní surnames
    Nahuatl surnames

    Celebrities with Mesoamerican and Andean surnames

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    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Orígenes de los apellidos (I). El Peruano. September 21, 2019
    2. ↑ Conserva Tlaxcala apellidos indígenas, afirma historiador. El Sol de Tlaxcala. September 8, 2020
    3. ↑ 2000 Years of Mayan Literature
    4. ↑ Onomástica y parentesco: El caso wayuu de la Baja Guajira
    5. ↑ De Platt, Lyman. Hispanic Surnames and Family History. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 978-0806314808
    6. ↑ VENEZUELA: Uso de apellido de esposas por maridos va a la Corte. IPS-Inter Press Service. 1995
    7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Urquijo Ortiz, Andrea. Los indigenismos léxicos en el español de Colombia. Instituto Caro y Cuervo - Colombian Ministry of Culture
    8. ↑ Romero, Simón. An Indigenous Language With Unique Staying Power. The New York Times
    9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Flores, Mariana. Apellidos indígenas más comunes en México a 500 años de la resistencia de Tenochtitlán. El Heraldo de México. August 13, 2021
    10. ↑ Reino Garcés, Pedro.Los apellidos indígenas tenían un significado que ya se trastocó desde 1673. El Telégrafo. August 30, 2015
    11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ramírez, Natacha. Compilan los más de 8 mil apellidos mapuches que están registrados en Chile: Revísalos aquí. El Mercurio. June 04, 2019
    12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Apellidos guaraníes en Paraguay.Una actualización de su vigencia a partir de Mil apellidos guaraníes, de León Cadogan
    13. ↑ ¿Cuál es el origen del apellido Quispe?
    14. ↑ Quispe
    15. ↑ Mamani, el apellido andino y prehispánico que es revalorizado en Bolivia
    16. ↑ Mamani
    17. ↑ Xicotencatl
    18. ↑ Chan
    19. ↑ Uriana
    20. ↑ Necul, Lincoñir o Colinao: Revisa los más 8 mil apellidos mapuches registrados en Chile
    21. ↑ Mella.
    22. ↑ Yahari
    23. ↑ La presencia del quechua en los nombres de personas, lugares, plantas en el Perú del siglo XXI
    24. ↑ Cadogan, León, Mil apellidos guaranies. Tiempo de Historia; 2nd edition. 2007. 978-9995381608
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    Contributors

    Main contributor: Maor Malul
    Additional contributor: Don Elliott