Nicknames and Name translations

Some of the nicknames are short hand for their ancient predecessors.

Such as Pepe, which is derived from the Italian/Latin predecessor of Jose, Guiseppe.

I read that there's a town in northern Potugal where the people still speak Latin.

Some Filipinos don't even know what their Spanish names mean. I met a nurse named Corazon, who didn't know that meant heart. Her nickname was Cory.

An abbreviation that threw me was Xtobal. It took me a while to figure out it was Cristobal. The X standing for the cross, as in our own Xmas.

I suppose the name Primitivo had another meaning rather than a direct translation as primitive.

---- aajay1073 wrote:
>
> I have always found it curious where some nicknames come from. I understand nicknames when they are a shorter version of the original name or as Emilie says, a childs version of name (but those names are not standard). The standard nicknames seem to not even be related to the orignal name like:
>
> Refugio = Cuca
> Jose = Pepe
> Juan = Paco
> Francisco = Pancho
> Jesus = Chuy
>
> Today, I think many people with hispanic names are either translating there name, ie
>
> Carlos = Charles
> Diego = James
> Esperanza = Hope
>
> Or they just pick the closest name to their original name:
> Hilario = Larry
> Jesus = Jesse
>
> Which by the way, Jesus translates to Joshua. And I don't think Refugio translates to Ruth. Sounds more like they just picked the closest 'R' name.
>
> Just my two centavos,
> Angie Godina
>