Re: Buena Vista
in reply to a message by Karen
While the 1990 U.S. Federal Census ranked the name "Buena" as #4,177, that doesn't mean that there couldn't have been a number of children also given the middle name of "Vista" to go with it. The Census, however, doesn't give accompanying middle names.
A 'net search revealed that "Buena Vista" (meaning "Good View" or "Beautiful View" is more commonly applied to places -- and even a Spanish Social Club -- than to people.
Seeing as how you have no evidence of Spanish ancestry in your family, I'd say that your great-grandmother's mother probably picked that name up from a pretty-sounding placename that she'd heard, and decided to name her baby that.
-- Nanaea
A 'net search revealed that "Buena Vista" (meaning "Good View" or "Beautiful View" is more commonly applied to places -- and even a Spanish Social Club -- than to people.
Seeing as how you have no evidence of Spanish ancestry in your family, I'd say that your great-grandmother's mother probably picked that name up from a pretty-sounding placename that she'd heard, and decided to name her baby that.
-- Nanaea