If yesterday was Sant Jordi, patron saint of Catalonia, on Thursday the Virgin of Montserrat, the patron saint, is celebrated. As many Montserrats, Montses, Tonas and Serrats exist among the older Catalan population, today it is a less frequent name among newborns, only 214 since 2010. Instead, it has a curious advantage, appreciated in modern times, because It can be either a woman's name –after the Virgin– or a man's name –the place name is masculine, Montserrat–. According to Idescat, in Catalonia there are 76,805 women with that name, and only five men.
The names that have traditionally been given to newborns, the anthroponyms, have had to do with various customs. There are those who inherit the first name (baptismal font) from their family, parents, grandparents or godparents. As if they were a dynasty, some people boast of wearing the name that their great-great-grandfather already bore and that has been maintained in subsequent generations. Others, in order not to have to ponder too much, gave the child the name of the saint of the day.
Then there are those who are simply looking for a name they like, or those who name their offspring after someone they admire, be it real or fictional. I remember a Heidi, long before Japanese cartoons based on Johanna Spyri's novel became popular; or a Vivian, by the actress Vivien Leight, from a mother who admired the character who swore that she would never go hungry again, because Scarlet seemed excessive to her.
In the eighties, when it seemed that a balanced and respectful bilingualism would be possible, names that sounded the same in Catalan and Spanish began to spread. It was the moment of Marta, David, María, Álex, Ramón, Sara, Raquel, Raúl, Alba, Paula...
Forty years later, there are parents who still ask for another requirement for the name of their descendants: that it be valid for both sexes. They don't want the creature to be hastily marked by a name that doesn't suit it. Here come unisex names, such as Aran, Álex, Andy, Andrea, Cris... Montserrat would also have been a good option, but it is already completely marked as a woman's name.
Although the premise is that a name is for life, it is only true on paper. The name by which we are known or called does not necessarily have to be the one that appears in the registry. People who make the transition change it. Others have a nom de guerre or a pen name. In clandestine life, name change is common currency. It is also a tradition to change it when entering religious life, like the Pope, who adopts a new name when he occupies the chair of Saint Peter.
How much responsibility for a simple name!
