This marriage thing, in the beginning, is fine. But then, when you leave the church... This joke suggests that married life is full of disagreements. Even well-to-do couples tend to fall for it, being one of the first to be registered when choosing the name of the firstborn. Because consensus is not usually reached the first time. After discussing a lot and setting various conditions - that it be beautiful and euphonious, that it does not sound like a dog's or brother-in-law's name, that it is written in the same way in Catalan as in Spanish (this rule only applies, and not always, in Catalonia)- , one of the two spouses prevails and the other gives up.
It wasn't always like that. In times of national-Catholic hegemony there were other rules, so the baby was often named after the saint of the day. And ready Thus, a girl born on August 15 would probably be named Maria. But a child born on the 26th could receive the promising name of Zeferí; and another born on the 30th would not be any luckier: perhaps he would be called Fiacre, in honor of Fiáchra, an Irish Catholic monk of the 7th century, duly canonized. Having said that about Catholicism, I would add that things did not look better in Judaism. They could impose the name Mordecai on you.
Another widespread baptismal system was that determined by family tradition. My name is Látzer because my grandfather was called that. In other families the rules were even more rigid and it could be that someone was baptized, let's say, like Frederic, almost without thinking about it, because the father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-grandfather and others were called like this. Who dares to break traditions that successive generations have maintained?
In recent decades, cinema and television have come to renew the repertoire of names. The successes – and even the failures – of handsome Kevin Kostner led to a string of Kevin babies. And with the Kevins came the Jonathans, Jessicas and Sue Ellens, without roots until then in the Iberian Peninsula, but in the global neighborhood.
All these traditions or fashions have just been swept away in Catalonia by the emergence of Leo as the favorite name of Catalan parents, probably because of Leo Messi. According to the Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya, the most frequent name for children here is already Leo, imposed on 433 Catalans in 2022, displacing Marc, who occupied the first position for decades. Put bluntly, the footballer has dethroned the evangelist.
This leadership of Leo, not already on the field of play, but in the santoral in force in the 21st century, invites reflection. The first thought is obvious: Leo is a paradigm of excellence and success, and perhaps by naming a child that way, one thinks that one is paying tribute to the scorer and, at the same time, one hopes that something of his legacy will stick to him on the grass or, even better, as an advertising claim. The second reflection is that we have slow reflexes: Leo has progressed very little by little as a favorite name, since in 2014, in the phase of his Blaugrana splendor, he did not appear in the top 25 favorites, and in 2020 he did not of the fifth square. But now he has reached the top. The third, and most significant, is that religion is no longer the main beacon when it comes to baptizing boys and girls. Neither is the family structure. It must therefore be said that, to a certain extent, what commands now, the mirror of virtues and a dream life, comes from football. And it must be added that, among the girls, Júlia resists in first place, but Ona, a swimmer's name, steps on her heels.
is this good This is bad? That's what there is. When you are baptised, you no longer idolize Aristotle - mind you: Aristotle Onassis, a little yes, because he used to do hard things - or Jesus - the last famous Jesus was Jesús Gil, I'm not saying anything else - or the great-grandfathers, who they are usually dead, and moreover before they died they had no life in the networks, which is the life that counts today. Many citizens prefer to place their son in the wake of a sportsman who, according to some journalist colleagues, has been the one who has done the most for the happiness of the human race (especially the Blaugrana and Argentinean race, which they are quite similar: thanks to Messi's goals, the adopted life seems bearable to them). Could someone offer us something else, a slightly juicier proposition? Hopefully!
