Yes, I do “understand the passion!” Very cute introduction to the team I follow: Mexico!
I’m going down, down, down to the underground…
Mexico City sewer divers
X-Ray Spex-Let’s Submerge
Opening scene of the Emir Kusturica film Underground
Through the efforts of helpful genealogists and far removed cousins on the Tellez side of my family, I’ve come to discover some of the geographic roots of my family. I’ve known for awhile my family had a long history in the Southwest, mostly in southern New Mexico and Arizona but I didn’t know my family was one of the first to move to the northern territories, then known as New Mexico. There are records that show early relatives living in El Paso del Norte as early as the 1700s. At one time, El Paso was part of New Mexico but eventually was annexed by Texas. I became curious about the history of the area and came across a book called Rio Grande, a very subjective historical look at the regions surrounding the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo). There’s lots of references to “peasants” “savages” and other language that is now unacceptable in the book’s many anecdotal passages. Despite the writer’s old school perspectives, he is quite honest when describing historical vignettes, such as this short excerpt on the story of Socorro, New Mexico.
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After the war with Mexico, Texas claimed the Rio Grande as it’s eastern boundary, Socorro was just over the river, safely on New Mexican soil, but it was a focal point for westward-drifting Texans. These early Texans were hard men, fighting men, and they hated Mexicans. A few brave words about the Alamo and Davy Crockett would work any Texan into a Mexican killing-mood. The Texans came with came armed with “head rights” which were bits of paper issued by the government of Texas to veterans of its wars and other settlers, entitling the holder to any quarter section of Texas land not already occupied. Head rights were brought and sold and were practically currency.
…They [Mexicans] had a certain skill with knives but they were helpless before these men with six shooters on their hips. It was a part of the Texan tradition that all Mexicans were cowards but in fact the westering Texans were an armed invasion of an unarmed community. It was one of those gradual and unrecorded movements that work more change than formal wars and often spill more blood.
The Texans were not empowered to take occupied lands but Mexicans did not count with them as occupants. They took lands that had been supporting families in undisputed possession for a century. Murder and bluff were their methods and the short and deadly six shooter was their only attorney. The Texans were all cattlemen. They came driving their herds of longhorns before them. The Mexicans were shepherds and sheep were driven off the range wherever the cattle went. Whole herds were stampeded over cliffs and killed. Sheep-herders were terrorized or killed. It was a favorite device to surround a sheep camp at night and shoot into its cooking fire as a gentle intimation to move on.
…Many Mexicans gave up their homes and migrated. The town of Dona Ana was spotted with Texas head rights and filled with belligerent Texans. Sixty of the inhabitants packed up their goods and led by Don Rafael Ruelas, their ruling rico, departed to find new homes in Old Mexico.
—excerpt from the book Rio Grande by Harvey Fergusson, William Morrow and Company, New York, 1955.
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An old favorite showcasing some of Mexico’s finest folk dances.
Male
Adolfo – Fito
Alberto – Beto, Bertín, Tico, Tito,
Alfonso – Poncho, Fonsi, Chete, Moncho
Anastasio – Tacho
Ángel – Gelo
Antonio – Toño
Apolinar – Polino, Poli
Armando – Mando
Arturo – Turi
Auxilio – Chilo
Benjamin – Benja
Eduardo – Lalo
Emilio – Milo
Enrique – Quique
Ernesto – Neto
Ezequiel – Cheque
Federico – Fede, Quico
Fernando – Nando
Francisco – Paco, Pancho
Gabriel-Gabi
Gonzalo – Chalo
Gregorio – Goyo
Guadalupe – Lupe, Lupillo
Guillermo – Memo
Gustavo – Tabo
Héctor – Teto
Horacio – Lacho
Ignacio – Nacho
Inocencio – Chencho
Isidro – Chilo
Javier – Javi
Jesús – Chuy, Chucho, Chus
Jesús Emilio – Chumilo
Joaquín – Chimo
Jose – Pepe, Chepe
Jose Maria – Chema
Juan Gabriel – Juanga
Juan Manuel – Juanma
Lorenzo – Lencho
Luis – Huicho, Lucho
Manuel – Lolo, Manolo, Manu
Moises – Moi
Pedro – Perico
Rafael – Rafa
Ramon – Moncho
Refugio – Cuco
Roberto – Beto
Rodrigo – Ruy
Salvador – Chava
Santiago – Chago
Sergio – Chejo, Checo
Vincente – Chente
Female
Alejandra – Ale
Alicia – Licha, Ali
Antonia – Toña
Asencion – Chon
Beatriz – Beti, Tichi
Carolina – Caro, Lina
Cecilia – Chila, Ceci
Concepción – Concha, Conchis
Consuelo – Chelo
Dolores – Lola, Loli
Elena – Leni
Elisabet – Eli
Esperanza – Lancha
Eugenia – Maru
Francisca/Franchesca – Paquita, Pancha
Graciela – Chela
Guadalupe – Lupe, Lupita
Guillermina – Mina, Guille
Hortencia – Tench, Tenchi
Isabel – Chavela
Josefa – Pepa
Josefina – Chepina
Lourdes – Lulú
Lucía Fernanda – Lucifer (!)
Luz – Luchi
Magdalena – Magda, Nena
Marcela – Chela
Margarita – Margo, Mago
María Elena – Malena
María Isabel – Maribel
María Luisa – Marisa
María Soledad – Marisol, Sole
María Teresa – Maite
Matilde – Tilde
Mercedes – Meche, Merce
Montserrat – Montse
Patricia – Pati
Raquel – Raki, Raque
Ramona – Mona, Moncha
Rocio – Chio
Rosario – Chayo, Charo
Silvia – Chivis
Socorro – Coco
Soledad – Chole
Teresa – Tere
Victoria – Toya, Viky
Yolanda – Yoli
I made some exceptions but this list is mostly comprised of nicknames which are somewhat different than the original name. I didn’t include too many of the fairly obvious ones i.e. Vero for Veronica, Trini for Trinidad, Nico for Nicolas etc. I also tried to stick to the traditional nicknames but included some of the modern versions for a few. There are many more of the Maria-plus names which I might add in later.
Also, it is somewhat humorous for non-Mexican Spanish speakers, but Mexicans tend to make many words diminutive including nicknames. So Concha becomes Conchita, Pepe is called Pepito and so on.
This is an excellent article that explains it all (Spanish): “De Alfonso a Poncho y de Esperanza a Lancha: los Hipocorísticos”
Interesting piece in Spanish from a Basque persepctive, it gives some background on the prevalence of “ch” in the names: El Valor de la Letra “Ch”
For some interesting background on the English nicknames i.e. Molly, Sally, Hank…check out this site.
Thanks to Frances, Diego, Jimmy, El Chavo, Don Quixote and Julio for your help in compiling this list. I found many of the names through internet searches which was a surprise to me. Just two years ago when I first set out to make this list, there was nothing on the web to be found.
Mexican Names, Part One
I was thinking about a friend I had in elementary school named Eduviges. She was from Tijuana. Eduviges means “fighting woman.” We called her “Dube” (in Spanish) for short.
Copied over from a Myspace blog post from 2007:
In a life long ago, I worked in a bank and tried to find numerous ways to entertain and guard myself against the tedium of “Next customer, please!” One way was to collect interesting names in Spanish.
Here are a few:
Atendoro Coyotl
Emeterio
Austreberto
Fructuoso
Pastora
Clorindo
Wenceslao
Fidencia Matlacuatzi
Gumercindo
Agapito
Perhaps these names were popular two centuries ago and managed to survive in sheltered pueblitos or they’re names of unpopular saints, quien sabe? They’re immensely preferable over the much too popular “Juan” and “Jose.”
Speaking of which, I’ve been trying to figure out for years which nicknames go with which proper names. So far I’ve got:
Juan=Paco
Jose=Pepe
Enrique=Kike or Kiki
Socorro=Coco
Luis=Lucho
Lourdes=Lulu
Guillermo=Memo
Can’t think of any others at the moment. Anyone else?
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Frances had these to add:
nicknames…in my family
luis…huicho
sergio…checo
frances/francisca…pancha/pachita
gustavo…tabo
veronica…bero
weird names
Hermila….(people call her Milly for short, weird). my mom
Avigail…(Avi for short) my grandmother”
Thanks Frances!
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I wrote this in 2007 and had hoped to come up with a definitive list which sorta got pushed to the backburner. If you know anymore, please leave your submissions in the comments section and I will try and compile them all for one post. Thanks!
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Forgot to add this in from my follow-up post. Ask A Mexican covered this question too!
Dear Mexican:
How do Mexicans get such ridiculous nicknames from seemingly normal names? For instance, Jose becomes Chepe, Eduardo is Lalo, Gabriel becomes Gabi, and Guillermo devolves into Memo.
It’s Marcela, Not ChelaI want to know why Mexicans have such incongruous nicknames. In English, people have nicknames that have some relation to their given names—for example Kenny is the nickname for Kenneth, or Jenny for Jennifer. Granted, there are some nicknames that seem like a stretch of logic, like Jack for John and Peg for Margaret, but there are none so incompatible as Pepe for Jos.., Pancho for Francisco, or Chucho (or Chuy) for Jesus. I have asked many Mexicans about this and they all tell me, “Porque as.. es,” so I finally decided to ask THE Mexican.
La China Curiosa Who’s Really KoreanDear Wabette and Chinita:
The definitive study on this quirk remains Viola Waterhouse’s “Mexican Spanish Nicknames,” included in the 1981 anthology Linguistics Across Continents: Studies in Honor of Richard S. Pittman. Unfortunately, the ethnolinguist devotes most of her article to including as many seemingly wacky Mexican apodos as possible (some of the better ones mentioned are Goyo for Gregorio, Licha for Alicia, Nacho for Ignacio, and Cuco for Refugio) instead of theorizing why Mexican Spanish is prone to such a mangled morphology. Waterhouse does identify one phenomenon that factors into many of these name changes: palatalization, when speakers pronounce non-palatal consonants as palatals—for example, the transformation of s into a ch sound when Salvador becomes Chava. Other phonetical laws not mentioned by Waterhouse that influence Mexican Spanish nicknames include apocopation (the dropping of a word’s last letters or syllables—Caro for Carolina), apheresis (when a word loses syllables or letters at its beginning—Mando for Armando) and syncopation, when a word contracts by shedding sounds—that’s how Roberto becomes Beto.But the question remains: Why the dropping of sounds and letters in Mexican Spanish nicknames? This Mexican’s take: most nicknames derived from proper nombres are shortened versions of the original. Mexicans advance this process by employing the above-mentioned tricks. Such trends occur in languages that are evolving into newer, bolder tongues. So enjoy your pussy Billys from William and Cathys from Catherine, gabachos: Mexicans will take the linguistic wonder that is creating Lencho from Lorenzo any day.
Plaza Baratillo, Guanajuato, GTO
The place of chard tamales and vegan gorditas. Where the fountain is protected from splashing children by an iron gate. Cold in the shadows but bright in the sun.
Los callejones are filled with secrets.
Esthela, 1936
This photo is of my Grandmother Jessie’s cousin, Esthela. She sent her this photo from Sonora, with a sweet inscription on the reverse. There is something about her eyes, they look very much like my grandmother’s. They are knowing.
Exuma-Obeah
I think Sunday is a good day to post this song because if I believed in the sacred, this song would be it. This music is what religion should be: visceral, calling to a power outside and within oneself. It is dripping with magic.
A couple of months ago I traveled to Guanajuato, MX where I met, through a friend, the drummer for the only punk rock band in the city. We spent the night chatting in this cave-like bar filled with hip youth from the nearby college. (It was a warm, gothic-y place lined with red velvet wall paper and playing the latest indie tunes from around the world.) The energy of this punk rock guy, appropriately nicknamed Godzilla or Godzi for short, was intense and heavy. His entrance into the bar seemed to intimidate the students sitting around us. So looming was his presence that I imagined he could intimidate the very walls of the building we were sitting in. With a beer in hand he began to tell one story after another, breathlessly, continuously, hours passing quickly, each story revealing his wry sense of humor and unexpected wisdom. Finally, in a rare pause of the conversation, I asked him if he’d ever been to Veracruz. His eyes glowed for a moment, remembering. He said in Spanish: Yes, that is a beautiful city, full of magic. Magic I asked, Real magic? Not magical? Magic he says. There is magic in the earth there, it is a special place. Different cities in Mexico contain all kinds magic, some places it is stronger. For instance, near Leon there is a town which is very dark, there is bad magic there. You don’t want to visit this pueblo…but I go occasionally. He grinned, leaving me to wonder what he does in the bad magic pueblo.
I immediately thought of this story when I heard first heard this song, there is magic here. It is up to you to decide what kind of magic it contains.
I got the voices of many in my throat
the feet of a frog and
the tail of a goat
According to book The Secret History of Disco and comments left on the Youtube page for this tune, this song was popular at early disco clubs in New York. It was part of a musical trend that included other African inspired music like Babatunde Olatunji.
Bisquit-Roller Boogie
I tried my best to resist the lure of this video which I was first introduced to through artist Porous Walker‘s Facebook page.
What is it exactly that I find so lovable about this song? Is it the synthy Hi-NRG beats, the hypnotic vocoder robot vocals, the infectious chord changes, the catchy chorus backed by samba shakers, the requisite hand claps, the unrelenting bass line, the melodic alarm clock beeps taken from a children’s cartoon all topped by a perfectly timed cowbell pop? Or is it the video itself with the Chrissy Snow dancers, so vapid and rhythmless (you can see them counting beats in their head) following a choreography that means absolutely nothing to them cause all they are smiling about is the cocaine they were promised after the video shoot? Did Cicciolina find her inspiration here? Xuxa?
What could top the blondies’ choreography of Roller Boogie? How about a bunch of Mexicans*? I don’t have too much info about this clip but I am fairly certain it comes from el otro lado. Funny, but the stiff lackluster boogieing this song seems to inspire fits it perfectly. Do androids dream of roller boogie?
*My apologies to all my Pinoy readers, this clip is actually from the Philippines!
