Here are some of the inventive baby names that have been bestowed in Cuba over the last few decades, according to the article “Julio or Juliabe? Inventing Baby Names Popular in Cuba,” published at Fox News Latino yesterday.
- Adianez (Zenaida backwards)
- Ailed (Delia backwards)
- Boris
- Aledmys
- Danyer (from the English word “danger“)
- Dayesi
- Disami
- Geyne (combination of Geronimo and Nelly)
- Hanoi (from the name of the capital of Vietnam)
- Juliabe
- Katia
- Leydi (from the English word “lady”)
- Maivi (from the English word “maybe”)
- Mayren (combination of Mayra and Rene)
- Migdisray (combination of Migdalia and Raymundo)
- Odlanier (Reinaldo backwards)
- Olnavy (from “Old Navy”)
- Orazal (Lazaro backwards)
- Robelkis (combination of Roberto and Belkis)
- Tatiana
- Usnavi (from “U.S. Navy”)
- Widayesi
- Yadel
- Yakarta (based on Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia)
- Yamisel
- Yander
- Yaneymi (combination of Yanet and Mijail)
- Yanisey
- Yasnaya (possibly based on Yasnaya Polyana, the name of several locations in Russia)
- Yirmara
- Yoanni
- Yoelkis
- Yohendry
- Yolaide
- Yordanka
- Yosbel
- Yotuel (from the Spanish words yo, tu, el, meaning “I, you, he”)
- Yovel
- Yulieski
- Yumara
- Yumilsis
- Yunier
- Yuri
- Yuset
Why all the “y” names? It has to do with the Soviet Union’s influence in Cuba, which made Russian-sounding names (often ones that start with “y”) fashionable on the island for a number of years. Cubans born during the ’70s and ’80s have been referred to as Generación Y, in fact.
Finally, Aurora Camacho, a member of the Cuban Institute for Literature and Linguistics, notes that more traditional names like Maria and Pedro are still being used in Cuba, but “certainly with less frequency.”
Image: Adapted from Oldtimers on Paseo de Marti, Havana, Cuba by kuhnmi under CC BY 2.0.
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