The Rosado family of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, is well-known for two things: politics and number-names.
Patriarch Jerônimo Ribeiro Rosado (b. 1861) had 3 children with his first wife, Maria, and 18 with his second wife, Isaura (Maria’s sister). All but two of his children have a number-name that corresponds to birth order.
Here are the names of all 21:
- Jerônimo (1890-1920)
- Laurentino (1891-1891)
- Tércio (1892-1960) – the Portuguese form of Tertius, “third” in Latin
- Isaura Quarto (1894-1896) – quarto is “fourth” in Portuguese
- Laurentino Quinto (1896-1897) – quinto is “fifth” in Portuguese
- Isaura Sexta (1897-?) – sexta is “sixth” in Portuguese
- Jerônima Sétima (1898-?) – sétima is “seventh” in Portuguese
- Maria Oitava (1899-?) – oitava is “eighth” in Portuguese
- Isauro Nono (1901-1925) – nono is “ninth” in Portuguese
- Vicência Décima (1902-?) – décima is “tenth” in Portuguese
- Laurentina Onzième (1903-1922) – onzième is “eleventh” in French
- Laurentino Duodécimo (1905-1954) – duodécimo is “twelfth” in Portuguese
- Isaura Trezième (1906-?) – trezième is “thirteenth” in French
- Isaura Quatorzième (1907-?) – quatorzième is “fourteenth” in French
- Jerônimo Quinzième (1908-1908) – quinzième is “fifteenth” in French
- Isaura Seize (1910-?) – seize is “sixteen” in French
- Jerônimo Dix-Sept (1911-1951) – dix-sept is “seventeen” in French
- Jerônimo Dix-Huit (1912-1996) – dix-huit is “eighteen” in French
- Jerônimo Dix-Neuf (1913-?) – dix-neuf is “nineteen” in French
- Jerônimo Vingt (1918-?) – vingt is “twenty” in French
- Jerônimo Vingt-Un (1920-2005) – vingt-un is “twenty-one” in French
Notice how the names shifted from Portuguese to French, and from ordinal numbers to cardinal numbers.
Some of the number-names above live on not only among descendants, but also as place names (e.g., Gov. Dix-Sept Rosado Airport, Dix-Huit Rosado Municipal Theatre).
Source: Os Rosado