In a message dated 8/28/2008 4:54:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > I read somewhere that names like "Camara", "Santos", "De Jesus" were > surnames that were given to children who were abandoned or "of the wheel" - > "da > roda". I did find in my own genealogy in the north of Portugal, that a baby > was > left on an ancestors doorstep and that ancestor took the baby to the church > and he was named Jose dos Santos. My ancestor's surname was Cunha. The > godparents to this child were Cunha's daughter and her husband. None of them > had > Santos as a surname. > In the parish of Bretanha on S. Miguel, one can always tell a foundling by the strange names. Often these children were given first names that nobody else in the village had at the time. I often smile while scrolling down baptismal records and come upon very unique first names. When I read the record--sure enough--an exposto. Dos Santos-- of the saints-- might have reflected the feeling of those who fostered him: God only knows who he belongs too, he is Joey of the saints. De Jesus would have had a similar pious sentiment. In villages like Bretanha there were few "real" expostos. Pregnancies were hard to hide in such small venues. People often suspected or knew who José dos Santos really was. There was always a village lass who suddenly seemed to have lost a lot of weight over night. A lot of those "expostos" were abandoned at the doors of (and fostered by) close blood relatives.
As for "da Câmara," the name in S. Miguel is usually either that of a descendant of Zarco, or a foundling. Da Câmara, as in Câmara Municipal, roughly translated when given as a surname to a child, (e.g., José da Câmara) would indicate that he was an abandoned child, a ward of the state (i.e., da Câmara). John Miranda Raposo --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
