Twins Feb 2010 (5 of 31) by EtanSivad

This is the introduction of the book Baby Names from Puerto Rico: Trendy, Creative and Unique Names from the Island of Enchantment.

 
If you visit the Island of Enchantment, you may notice that many young people’s names are unknown to you. Apparently the tradition of naming the children to preserve the memory of mom or dad is not used anymore.
 
Puerto Ricans are very creative and unique in this process of naming their children. Today, for us is not enough to name our baby with a simple common name in Spanish such as María, Ana, Pedro, Antonio or Luis. Now, the trend is to create new, unique names for our babies. This creative process often occurs when we combine names, for example the names of both parents or two names we like. That is why it is common to have friends with names such as Kathyenid (woman), Jonathaniel (man), Kaoru (woman) or Sadiel (man).
 
Baby Names Around the World
 

Includes more than 4,500 names. Available in English and Spanish, Print and Kindle.

Some countries regulate baby names. Chile, New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, Germany, France, and Iceland are examples. In 2009, the judge José Ángel Aquino from the Dominican Republic submitted without success a resolution to ban names that were “derogatory, extravagant or vulgar such as those used to refer to body parts, brands, commercial names, science fiction characters, offensive words, among others.” With this project, the judge attempted to prohibit names like “Bobona Guerrero de los Santos, Tonton Ruiz, Adicto de los Santos, Seno Jiménez, Ernesto Che Pérez, Winston Churchill de la Cruz, John F. Kennedy Santana (and) Rambo Mota.”
 
In the January 14th, 2012 issue of The Economist an article was published on government regulations regarding baby names. This article makes reference to a survey made by the economists Roland Fryer and Steven Levitt that conclude “that nearly 30% of black girls in California in the 1990s received a first name Continue reading →