We all know of baby names that come from Marian titles — names like Fátima, Lourdes, Dolores, Guadalupe, Carmel, Pilar, Milagros, Mercedes, Luz, Consolata, Consuelo, Corazón, Loreto, Remedios, and so on.
Well, I discovered three more the other day that were brand new to me.
The first was Chiquinquirá, which I learned about through a Gawker post (of all places). The name belongs to TV personality María Chiquinquirá Delgado Díaz of Maracaibo, Venezuela. Her name was inspired by La Virgen de Chiquinquirá, patroness of Colombia, of the Peruvian city of Caraz, and of the Venezuelan state of Zulia (which is where Maracaibo is located).
This discovery inspired me to seek out other rare Marian title-names (rare for the U.S., anyway). I ended up finding two more: Suyapa and Lasalette.
Suyapa comes from La Virgen de Suyapa, patroness of Honduras. (Suyapa is a suburb of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.) I found a few dozen instances of this name both on the SSA’s baby name lists and in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).
Lasalette comes from Our Lady of La Salette, a Marian apparition that occurred in France in the mid-1800s. I knew of the apparition, but I’d never realized La Salette was used as a name until I checked the SSDI and found three Lasalettes.
You learn something new every day, I guess. :)
Wow! Those are completely new to me, too. I have a soft spot for Stella Maris, and even though it is COMPLETELY unwearable, Assumpta.
Has Medugorje made an appearance yet?
@C in DC – Found one! I’d checked the regular sources (SSA, SSDI) already, but since you made a special request, I did some digging. :)
In this video of a pro-life rally in Olympia, Washington, the priest mentions that the baby girl he’s holding is named Medugorje. He mentions it twice — at 0:08, and at 0:39.
March for Life in Olympia, Washington 2010 Part III
Discovered another — Itatí. It comes from La Virgen de Itatí.
Itatí is a town in Argentina. The name of the town is Guaraní, but the etymology is unclear.
I found it via Mexican actress Itatí Cantoral, whose mother is Argentine actress Itatí Zucchi.
The name has been given to at least a dozen U.S. babies every year since debuting on the SSA’s list in 1994 (I imagine because of the younger actress).
And two more I just learned about, used in Catalan-speaking areas: Meritxell and Nuria.
Hooray for your post. I have heard of Chiquinquirá because of TV personality. Supaya & Lasalette are “new.” I loved Immaculée, french I think, like author/speakerImmaculée Ilibagiza. I also love Annunciata which i believe is italian.
Lassallette (note the double s!) can also be a given name in honour of Ferdinand Lassalle, a German socialist politician.
Another: Arantza/Arantzazu/Arancha/Arantxa, for the Virgin of Arantzazu (Basque Country, Spain). Real life example: tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
The name Ainhoa — from the Basque Marian title “Virgen de Ainhoa” — has popped up on my radar recently. Last year it entered both the U.S. top 1000 and Puerto Rico’s top 10.