Naming Practices in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Brazil

Abstract

This article explores the onomastic universe of the parish of São José del Rei, Minas Gerais, during the period 1751–1890. The analysis draws upon a nearly complete set of parish registers of births, augmented by extensive marriage, death, and supplemental census records. The results of the research provide new information regarding patterns of naming at both the aggregate level of social groups and at the intergenerational level made accessible to study through family reconstruction. Slave, freed, and free children bore significantly different names. Family ties reached across generations through naming practices, revealing a more stable and enduring social structure.