Denis, I believe this is the reason the "nick-names" came into use. One Manuel lived and he was called, "Manuel from the end of the road." I don't know the Portuguese word for end of the road; however, I think you can see one way of identifying one Manuel. As for the Maria thing for the girls, I feel that 90 percent of girls were named Maria and once they were old enough to move about the village, they used their first and middle name or sometimes just their middle name that might be less common. Celeste, Hayward, CA Celeste Perry [email protected]
From: Denis Meals <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 12:50 PM Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] First, middle names for Azorean people Listers: I read with interest the recent discussion regarding the 'end-of-the-line' surnames. Dano on 1 Oct. spoke to this, and I second his comments. However, I now have a question to pose to our listers, and ask for their opinions. Azorean first and second names seem to be restricted to only perhaps 12 commonly used, i.e. Manoel, Jose, Antonio, Joao, Maria, Jacintha, Joaquina, Umbelina, being perhaps most common. Given that most families had many children means that within a community, there would have been many named Manoel, for example. For the older still unmarried, at least several named Manoel Jose or Maria Jacintha. How then did they distinguish between the many same-named individuals within their immediate community, as well as adjacent villages? Denis-- 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, log into your Google account and 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." -- 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, log into your Google account and 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."
