Names of princesses

[Gordon Whittaker]

Hi Fritz,

How about Chalchiuhnenetl? Very pretty, but unfortunately ill-fated. And a
double entendre that might be inappropriate when a child with the name
grows to be a woman. George Kubler got into trouble over a rather earthy
translation he offered a Yale class some decades ago. Similarly ambiguous
is Quetzalpetlatl, pretty but better for a seductress than for a little
girl starting out in life. One shouldn't tempt fate.

Moving right along. Chimalman would be good for a girl with ambitious
parents. Less pretty, though. Not so flattering, perhaps, would be the
name Ilamaton ~ Ilanton 'Little Old Lady' that a number of newborns were
graced with in the mid-16th century. One wonders.

Goddesses' names were given to girls, and one favourite was
Chalchihuitlicue, which I think is very pretty. Curiously, the non-Mexica
form Chalchiuhtlicue seems to be gaining ground in the scholarly
literature. Chalchiuhcueye is a very pretty twist on the name.

Then there's Huitzilapan 'Hummingbird Waters', rather idyllic.

Although I wouldn't recommend the hotlands name Nencihuatl 'Useless
Woman', I think the popular name it's making fun of, Cencihuatl 'Totally
Woman', is a (presumably) positive-minded alternative.

One should avoid saddling girls with the generic Xochitl, which today is
so popular in Mexico because it translates Rosa. Xochitl is more often a
man's name than a woman's, interestingly enough. Besides, there are so
many creative compounds with -xochitl that would offer prettier choices. A
matter of taste, I guess. Incidentally, it's surprising how many men had
'female' names, such as those ending in -cihuatl or -ilama.

How about Teoxoch 'Divine Flower'? Women often had plant and flower names.
Dozens of them turn up among nobility and the common folk alike. If your
friend is from the South, he might want to consider Iyexoch 'Tobacco
Flower'. Or even Aocxihue 'She's Out of Herbs'. Finally, there's
Temacxochitl 'A Flower in Someone's Hands'. Hmm.

I'm a little burned out after a long day, so I 'll leave it at that for
the moment.

Best wishes,
Gordon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gordon Whittaker
Professor
Linguistische Anthropologie und Altamerikanistik
Seminar fuer Romanische Philologie
Universitaet Goettingen
Humboldtallee 19
37073 Goettingen
Germany
tel./fax (priv.): ++49-5594-89333
tel. (office): ++49-551-394188
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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