Brazilian pharmacist Jerônimo Rosado (b. 1861) had three children with his first wife, Maria. After Maria died, he married Maria’s sister, Isaura, and they welcomed 18 more children.
Notably, nearly all of the 21 Rosado children were given number-names. Each number-name corresponded to that particular child’s position in the birth order. Here’s the full list:
- Jerônimo (b. 1890)
- Laurentino (b. 1891)
- Tércio (b. 1892) – tércio is a Portuguese form of tertius, meaning “third” in Latin
- Isaura Quarto (b. 1894) – quarto means “fourth” in Portuguese
- Laurentino Quinto (b. 1896) – quinto means “fifth” in Portuguese
- Isaura Sexta (b. 1897) – sexta means “sixth” in Portuguese
- Jerônima Sétima (b. 1898) – sétima means “seventh” in Portuguese
- Maria Oitava (b. 1899) – oitava means “eighth” in Portuguese
- Isauro Nono (b. 1901) – nono means “ninth” in Portuguese
- Vicência Décima (b. 1902) – décima means “tenth” in Portuguese
- Laurentina Onzième (b. 1903) – onzième means “eleventh” in French
- Laurentino Duodécimo (b. 1905) – duodécimo means “twelfth” in Portuguese
- Isaura Trezième (b. 1906) – trezième means “thirteenth” in French
- Isaura Quatorzième (b. 1907) – quatorzième means “fourteenth” in French
- Jerônimo Quinzième (b. 1908) – quinzième means “fifteenth” in French
- Isaura Seize (b. 1910) – seize means “sixteen” in French
- Jerônimo Dix-Sept (b. 1911) – dix-sept means “seventeen” in French
- Jerônimo Dix-Huit (b. 1912) – dix-huit means “eighteen” in French
- Jerônimo Dix-Neuf (b. 1913) – dix-neuf means “nineteen” in French
- Jerônimo Vingt (b. 1918) – vingt means “twenty” in French
- Jerônimo Vingt-Un (b. 1920) – vingt-un means “twenty-one” in French
Notice how the number-names shifted from Portuguese to French, and from ordinal to cardinal.
Several members of the family had successful careers in politics. For instance, patriarch Jerônimo served as the mayor of the city of Mossoró from 1917 to 1919. Dix-Sept held the same office from 1948 to 1950. Vingt held it from 1953 to 1958. And Dix-Huit served as the mayor of Mossoró three times: 1973-1977, 1983-1988, and 1993-1996. (The city’s airport is named after Dix-Sept; its theater is named after Dix-Huit.)
What are your thoughts about these names?
Sources: Os Rosado – Itaú Cultural, Jerônimo Dix-Sept Rosado – Wikipedia, Jerônimo Dix-Huit Rosado – Wikipedia, Lista de prefeitos de Mossoró – Wikipédia
Image: Adapted from Statue of Jerônimo Dix-Sept Rosado by Patrick under CC BY-SA 3.0.
I wonder what made them settle on just using Isaura and Jeronimo for the later kids. Ah, to have been the only Tercio, Maria, or Vicencia in the family! And who was the original Laurentina/o to keep reusing that name?
Good question–I never found out who the original Laurentina/o was. Hm…