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HelpRe: Hispanic (specifically Mexican) names without religious connotations?
in reply to a message by Sun
I don't know what gives a name "religious connotations" to you, but most of those you list are the names of saints in Roman Catholic tradition.
Aurelio is the name of a martyr in Cordoba, Spain in the ninth century.
Adela is the name of an eighth century saint from the Rhineland.
The original St. Adrian was a Roman guard to the emperor martyred in 306, and there have been six Popes named Adrian.
Alma is the word for "soul" in Spanish, which has been a big part of the reason for its use by Spanish-speaking parents.
There was a St. Arthur born in Ireland who was martyred in Egypt in 1282. He doesn't seem to be well-known in Spanish-speaking countries, so perhaps Arturo has fewer "religious connotations", though to me the legend of King Arthur is full of both pagan and Christian religious overtones.
Santa Beatriz (St. Beatrice) was a Roman martyr in the fourth century.
Camillus de Lelis (1550-1614), who is called Camilo de Lelis in Spanish, founded a religious order dedicated to care for the sick. He was canonized a saint in 1746.
Carolina may not have many religious connotations in Spanish-speaking countries, though it would be the Spanish form of Karoline, and Karoline Gerhardinger (1797-1879) was a German nun who founded an educational order who was beatified in 1985.
In Mexico Estela is considered a variation of Estrella, name of a third century virgin martyr saint.
My Mexican name dictionary (by Gutierre Tibon) points out there are 65 Roman Catholic saints named Felix, 10 of them from Spain.
The same dictionary says there are 8 saints named Jacinto or Jacinta, including the famous Santa Jacinta Mariscotti, a 17th century Italian nun from the Poor Clares.
Joaquin in the Spanish form of Joachim, traditionally the name of the Virgin Mary's father, widely venerated by Roman Catholics.
There are at least two different virgin martyrs called Santa Juliana from the fourth century.
Lilies are a symbol of purity and innoncence in Christianity so Lilia definitely has a religious connotation for many Christians.
Luz is one of many words which became feminine names in Spanish because they were titles of the Virgin Mary, in this case "Nuestra Senora de las Luz", "Our Lady of Light". So in a Spanish-speaking context it is definitely a religious name.
Tibon's dictionary says there are 31 saints called Maximo, including a second-century martyr said to have preached in Spain.
Ofelia is a name you could consider. Tibon's dictionary says it was created for a character in the Italian writer Jacobo (Jacopo) Sannazzaro's pastoral "La Arcadia", and of course later popularized through the character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
Oriana is not listed in Tibon's dictionary. On the one hand, that probably means that at least before 1986, when that book was published, it was very rare in Mexico. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to have religious connotations, beyond the spiritual imagery "gold" has in the Bible as well as in other religious literature.
Santa Rosalia was a 12th century hermit saint who is the patron saint of the city of Palermo in Sicily, according to Tibon's dictionary.
Serafina is derived from "seraphim", the name of an order of angels, and so has a quite specific relgious connotation. Santa Serafina is also a virgin saint from Galicia in Spain.
Viviana is the feminine of Viviano, which is the Spanish name of a French bishop martyred in the fifth century. It is also thought of as a mystical name referring to supernatural life by some in Mexico, according to Tibon.
It's going to be really hard to find a name with a long tradition of use in Spanish-speaking countries that does NOT have some religious connotation in Spanish-speaking culture. There are a few with literary origins -- like Ofelia -- or which really don't have a long history of use as names in Mexico, like Oriana. There are of course names which have been common in Mexico during the last couple of centuries which are originally from other cultures, like Nelson and Oscar, or which are modern inventions by Latin Americans, like Yesenia or Yaritza, which you might consider.
(And actually Oscar is no longer a name without religious connotations in Hispanic culture since the canonization of St. Oscar Romero in 2018.)
Aurelio is the name of a martyr in Cordoba, Spain in the ninth century.
Adela is the name of an eighth century saint from the Rhineland.
The original St. Adrian was a Roman guard to the emperor martyred in 306, and there have been six Popes named Adrian.
Alma is the word for "soul" in Spanish, which has been a big part of the reason for its use by Spanish-speaking parents.
There was a St. Arthur born in Ireland who was martyred in Egypt in 1282. He doesn't seem to be well-known in Spanish-speaking countries, so perhaps Arturo has fewer "religious connotations", though to me the legend of King Arthur is full of both pagan and Christian religious overtones.
Santa Beatriz (St. Beatrice) was a Roman martyr in the fourth century.
Camillus de Lelis (1550-1614), who is called Camilo de Lelis in Spanish, founded a religious order dedicated to care for the sick. He was canonized a saint in 1746.
Carolina may not have many religious connotations in Spanish-speaking countries, though it would be the Spanish form of Karoline, and Karoline Gerhardinger (1797-1879) was a German nun who founded an educational order who was beatified in 1985.
In Mexico Estela is considered a variation of Estrella, name of a third century virgin martyr saint.
My Mexican name dictionary (by Gutierre Tibon) points out there are 65 Roman Catholic saints named Felix, 10 of them from Spain.
The same dictionary says there are 8 saints named Jacinto or Jacinta, including the famous Santa Jacinta Mariscotti, a 17th century Italian nun from the Poor Clares.
Joaquin in the Spanish form of Joachim, traditionally the name of the Virgin Mary's father, widely venerated by Roman Catholics.
There are at least two different virgin martyrs called Santa Juliana from the fourth century.
Lilies are a symbol of purity and innoncence in Christianity so Lilia definitely has a religious connotation for many Christians.
Luz is one of many words which became feminine names in Spanish because they were titles of the Virgin Mary, in this case "Nuestra Senora de las Luz", "Our Lady of Light". So in a Spanish-speaking context it is definitely a religious name.
Tibon's dictionary says there are 31 saints called Maximo, including a second-century martyr said to have preached in Spain.
Ofelia is a name you could consider. Tibon's dictionary says it was created for a character in the Italian writer Jacobo (Jacopo) Sannazzaro's pastoral "La Arcadia", and of course later popularized through the character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
Oriana is not listed in Tibon's dictionary. On the one hand, that probably means that at least before 1986, when that book was published, it was very rare in Mexico. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to have religious connotations, beyond the spiritual imagery "gold" has in the Bible as well as in other religious literature.
Santa Rosalia was a 12th century hermit saint who is the patron saint of the city of Palermo in Sicily, according to Tibon's dictionary.
Serafina is derived from "seraphim", the name of an order of angels, and so has a quite specific relgious connotation. Santa Serafina is also a virgin saint from Galicia in Spain.
Viviana is the feminine of Viviano, which is the Spanish name of a French bishop martyred in the fifth century. It is also thought of as a mystical name referring to supernatural life by some in Mexico, according to Tibon.
It's going to be really hard to find a name with a long tradition of use in Spanish-speaking countries that does NOT have some religious connotation in Spanish-speaking culture. There are a few with literary origins -- like Ofelia -- or which really don't have a long history of use as names in Mexico, like Oriana. There are of course names which have been common in Mexico during the last couple of centuries which are originally from other cultures, like Nelson and Oscar, or which are modern inventions by Latin Americans, like Yesenia or Yaritza, which you might consider.
(And actually Oscar is no longer a name without religious connotations in Hispanic culture since the canonization of St. Oscar Romero in 2018.)
This message was edited 1/3/2022, 8:19 PM
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You're incredibly thorough, kudos for that! I think it's really hard to escape saint names, with the thousands that the Catholic church recognizes, mostly we're trying to steer clear of ones with direct biblical usage and meanings like "God is with us", etc.
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