De los nombres de María en la Sevilla del Quinientos

Abstract

This article presents the results of the study of the feminine first names that, in the sixteenth century, include María as one of their component elements, for which all the baptismal certificates of Seville prior to the year 1600 have been consulted. In view of the data extracted from these sacramental documents, three basic classes of names could be discerned: names attaching a syntagma alluding to some mystery of the life of the Virgin to María (María de la Concepción) or hagionyms (María de San José), double names with María as the first element (María Ana) and double names with María as the second element (Ana María). The proposed distinction is based on an apparent inverse proportional relationship between the influence of the Catholic liturgical calendar on the choice of a first name and the greater or lesser frequency of this type of anthroponym being given to the daughters of the upper class of Seville.