The population of Hispanic origin in the United States is constantly growing, but what had been a long-established habit is giving way to new ways to name their children. Fewer and fewer children have names of Latin origin, because his parents opt for other appellations of Anglo-Saxon origin.
The latest lists of popular names in the United States indicate that many names of Hispanic origin have disappeared from the ranking of the most popular positions, a fact that has had diverse interpretations that we will discuss.
Among the advantages of this fact, it would be the best acceptance by the name environment, since according to experts unknown names are worse perceived, received with some rejection and negative assessment. Although this totally subjective fact would not have to happen if a name like Joseph or Jesus extends in a different context.
Children with Hispanic names who live in the United States are often called to spell their names, I imagine that in the same way that it happens with any name that is not purely Anglo-Saxon, that has doubtful spelling or that is not very common.
But it is not necessary to go to the United States for this, which happens to many with last names, for example and to anyone who chooses unusual names for the baby.
In addition, experts point out that this trend could be indicative that the degree of machismo is decreasing Among many Hispanic families, there was a strong tradition, which has been linked to sexist societies, to put the name of the father to the children.
This would explain that among girls historically there is not a significant amount of Hispanic names: it does not matter that they do not follow the family tradition, and they are usually given Anglo-Saxon names or of Latin origin but adapted. Although, as we know, this is a tradition that occurs in families of very different structures and that has nothing to do with machismo in many environments. Surely we do not say that the families that put the mother's name to the daughters are feminists.
Acceleration of integration or uprooting?
Instead, there are those who point out that this loss of Hispanic names entails disadvantages. The main one, with which I agree, would be the loss of cultural awareness, of the roots from which the family comes, a kind of loss of identity that occurs in the coming generations of immigrants, but that seems to accelerate through the nomination of their members.
That is, if my name is John, I will probably (and in general) be less aware of my Hispanic origin than if my name is Juan, also in terms of how my environment identifies me, although there are obviously many other factors involved in the loss of identity.
On the other hand, this acculturation process which leads to the replacement of family tradition names by others of Anglo-Saxon origin is seen as an advantage for many people who see only an acceleration in the integration of these people.
I personally believe that the integration of people must be done by many other means and not because of the imposition of names, religions or customs that are strange to them as they would be to us if we move to different contexts.
In any case, the figures are undeniable and Hispanic names are no longer among the most popular in the United States, a trend that could be the beginning of a disappearance in the coming decades, although it would be a shame if they stopped hearing such beautiful names as has happened with most Hispanic names of girls.
