Vol. 64 No. 1 (2016)
Article

Ethnolinguistic and Gender Aspects of Latino Naming in Chicago: Exploring Regional Variation

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  • Maryann Parada
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00277738.2016.1118858

Published 2016-01-02

Copyright (c) 2016 American Name Society

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The naming behavior of ethnolinguistic minorities in the US can provide insight into a group’s cultural stances, language ideologies, and even language planning efforts. This study examines the names of Latinos in Chicago, with a particular focus on those born by the second generation. Building on previous studies of Latino immigrant naming practices in Texas and Los Angeles, a comparative analysis of the ethnolinguistic and gender-related patterns of a corpus of 386 names is performed. Results show a general alignment of name type preferences across Latino communities but suggest there may be site-specific trends in the popularity of individual names. In terms of gender divergence in assimilative naming, an additional perspective is provided to complement previous conflicting findings.

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