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But isn't ....
by Caprice (guest)
8/16/2003, 12:05 PM
in reply to a message by Monica
Habana the original Spanish spelling? I've seen a book about place names in my local library (I live in Sweden and the book is Swedish, so I can't recommend it for you, sorry...unless you speak Swedish, of course), but I'll look for the meaning of Havana!
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- Tamara (guest)   +1
9/10/2003, 1:22 AM
HabanaHI! I am searching for the meaning to the name Habana... Other than the capital of Cuba and a cigar. If you know anything, please let me know. I have been searching for almost five years. Thanks.
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- Mayita (guest)
1/5/2004, 11:47 AM
When I was studying Spanish in Cuba last summer (July 2003), my professor told us that in the early 1500s, the native (Ciboney?) chief of the region around the current city of La Habana was named Habanaguex. From what I've found online, apparently Habanaguex was friendly to the Spaniards, who identified him with the region, and so when the Spanish Catholics founded city on Saint Christopher's day somewhere around 1514, they named it San Cristóbal de La Habana, which is still its official name.BTW, Cubans call cigars "habanos" or "puros".
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- Ivayla   +1
8/16/2003, 1:14 PM
Yep...the Cubans (and other Spanish-speaking people) call Havana "la Habana". I once read that the city was named after San Crisobal de Habana, a local (!?!) saint but that still doesn't explain what Habana means :(. Not does it say how come the Arawaks had an obviously Christian local saint.
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- Ivayla
8/16/2003, 1:18 PM
Aaargh, it's San Cristobal, not Crisobal!
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