Mexican girl names

What Mexican girl names look like

Three layers sit on top of each other. The oldest is the Catholic layer: saints (Ana, Isabel, Catalina, Teresa) and the titles of the Virgin Mary that Mexico turned into names of their own. Nowhere else are Guadalupe, Lourdes, Rocío, Pilar, Consuelo, Socorro, Refugio, Remedios, Dolores, and Concepción so common. Most were originally the second half of a compound, María de Guadalupe, and the María dropped away in daily use. December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, is still the biggest naming date in the country.

The second layer is the Spanish-language layer: word names such as Luz (light), Paz (peace), Esperanza (hope), Alma (soul), Estrella (star), Perla (pearl), Marisol (sea and sun), and Lucero (bright star). These are used far more in Mexico than in Spain.

The third and youngest layer is indigenous. From the 1980s onward, and sharply since 2000, parents in central Mexico began registering Nahuatl names: Xóchitl (flower), Citlali (star), Yaretzi, Yólotl (heart), Meztli (moon). In Yucatán and Chiapas the Maya names Itzel, Ixchel, Nicté, and Zazil do the same work. Several of these now rank in the national top 100.

How Mexican girl names are chosen

The saint's day still matters. A girl born on October 12 may be Pilar, one born on September 24 Mercedes, and a girl born on the feast of Guadalupe will very often carry the name. Grandmothers are honored with a second name: Ana Sofía keeps the modern Sofía for daily use and the grandmother's Ana on paper. Compound names are written as one unit in the registry and in this list, which is why María José, María Fernanda, and Ana Paula each have their own page.

Nicknames come with the name. Guadalupe is Lupe or Lupita, Concepción is Concha, Dolores is Lola, Consuelo is Chelo, Refugio is Cuca, Josefina is Chepina, Rosario is Chayo, Socorro is Coco, María José is Majo, María Fernanda is Mafer. Each name page lists the nicknames, and the nickname guide explains where they come from.

Pronunciation in brief

Spanish stress falls on the second-to-last syllable unless an accent mark says otherwise: so-FEE-ah, reh-HEE-nah, gwah-dah-LOO-peh. The letter j is an English h (hee-MEH-nah for Jimena) and x in Nahuatl names is sh (SOH-cheetl for Xóchitl). The pronunciation guide has the full set of rules with examples.