First comparison of first name attribution models in Santiago de Cuba and Tlalnepantla de Baz, Mexico (1960)

Abstract

This research has as background projects developed in socioanthroponomy on first names in Tlalnepantla de Baz, Mexico, and in Montpellier, France, during the twentieth century, under a comparative perspective, as well as a study on such names in Santiago de Cuba from 1960 to 1985. In this work we study the samples of birth certificates of the 1960 civil registry, part of both corpus of Tlalnepantla and Santiago, collected in similar conditions, thus obtaining an overview of the nominal attribution in each city. The theoretical framework of the study includes the classical texts in onomastics; the pragmasemantic theories of proper names and anthroponyms; and the current works in socioanthroponomastics. The methodology is both quantitative and qualitative (comparison of each name with the date of birth of the bearer, with the Catholic calendar and with the names of parents and grandparents). It also compares the influence of traditional attribution models and fashion in both cities. The main trends found are: a) the permanence of the traditional model in Tlalnepantla de Baz (especially the selection from the Catholic calendar), and b) an initial movement towards neology, as well as the presence of some prestigious names, in Santiago de Cuba. These traits result from socioanthroponymic factors, which operate in 1960, which show the richness of both convergent and divergent practices, as well as the need to study from socio-onomastics the Cuban and Mexican variants of Spanish.