I read Sandra Cisneros' "My Name" in the text "Interactions", used in many ESL classrooms, and found myself reflecting on my own name or, I should say, names. I read "House on Mango Street" many years ago and remember even then thinking about this excerpt from the book. Let me explain.
I immigrated from the Azores when I was six. My name was listed by Immigration and Naturalization as Jose Manuel Avelar Rosa. 'Jose' was my father's name, 'Manuel' his father's, 'Avelar' my mother's maiden name, and 'Rosa' my patrilineal surname. Upon naturalization I 'Anglicized' 'Jose' to 'Joseph' but I rarely use 'Manuel'. (My aunt, Tia Madrinha, still refers to me as Jose Manuel, now and then, and it holds dear and comforting feelings for me.
A few years ago I decided to apply for dual citizenship through the Portuguese consulate in San Francisco. To do so I had to have an official copy of my birth certificate from the Azores. A freiend of mine, who also came from the Azores but came at an older age and is wonderfully bicultural to a degree I wish I were, helped me with the process. In particular, she guided me through the process of seeking a copy of my birth certificate from Flores. What a surprise when I received it in the mail!
I looked at copy of the birth certificate, and then again. They made a mistake! They must have! I read 'Jose deAvelar'. They left out my patrilineal! Well, they hadn't. Rosa had never been my patrilineal. deAvelar is my legal surname (in Portugal). It was registered as such when my father had me baptized in the village church eight days after I was born.
Maria, my friend who helped me through the process and is far more knowledgable about Portuguese social and cultural patterns than I am, explained that it's very common for parents to change or modify baptismal names and that many in her family had done the same. I'll never know why my father didn't use Rosa, his surname, as my own (for he died many years ago). My mother never even knew this for she was still bedridden when my father took me to the church. She was just as surprised as I was when I showed her the birth certificate! Does it matter that I'm 'really' Jose deAvelar and that it's not my legal name here in the U.S.? I'm not sure.
When I became a citizen I considered changing my name to Joseph Francisco Avelar, 'Francisco' being my mother's father's name. Cisneros on page 15 states: "So your entire life is spent trying to figure out who you are and how to be happy being that person." 'Being' Joseph Avelar Rosa or Jose deAvelar would not greatly alter how I see or define myself. Still . .
Cisneros inherited her great-grandmother's name, Esperanza. However, she states that, although she inherited her name, she didn't want "to inherit her place by the window". The name had a negative connotation because her great-grandmother was literally abducted by her great-grandfather and possibly held against her will and, metaphorically, spent the rest of her life "by the window". She didn't want to inherit a name - a legacy - that connected her to an incident that suggested a kind of 'captivity'. But there is a deeply-felt and very positive connection to my mother's father.
Francisco Avelar was a whaler and owned a small whaling boat. I remember watching the six to ten men crews rowing the small boats out to the whales passing our small island during their annual migrations. This work was very dangerous and my grandfather, being the owner of the boat, was the one who held the harpoon and who struck the first blow; a very important but dangerous task. The boat would be ragged through the at-times turbulent waters and often boats would be overturned by the whale and lives would be lost.
Fortunately, my grandfather lived to old age. He was known as "O Capitao", The Captain. He was a gentle, caring, soft-spoken man, that much I remember. It is for these reasons - his bravery, his caring, gentle ways - that I would be honored by changing my surname from Rosa to deAvelar.
Resources
Want to know more about Sandra Cisneros? Try these links.
A good biography of Cisneros is available at Modern American Poets. This is the Authorized Sandra Cisneros Web Site. However, I had trouble accessing some of the internal links. Maybe you'll have better luck! VG: Voices from the Gaps is an excellent blog from the University of Minnesota dedicated to women artists and writers of color. Start with "Our Project" under "Praxis" to find out more about the blog. "Bios" under "Art" will access a page with alphabetical links to individual artists and writers.
Information on the Azores? Try Beautiful Azores (Be sure to see 'Flores', the island where I was born.)
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