Asturian-American Migration Forum

This is a message partly for Suronda.

Having been born and raised in Grasselli, your article brought back many memories. I was born in 1929 and my parents were both Asturianos. My mother Angelina Barbao Suarez and my dad Edward Sierra Suarez. When I was three we moved back to Spain and remained there until the Civil War looked like it was about to start, so we moved back to Grasselli. It was around 1934 or 35 but I am not sure.

Some of the names you mention seem very familiar but I have been gone since 1958. I have lived in Sarasota, Florida for 40 years but go back quite often for the Italian Fair. It a good time to see old friends and walk through Anmoore. Today it seems so small. I graduated from Bridgeport High school and have my Masters from WVU in Education. My wife is also from Clarksburg (North View) and graduated from Victory High.

I have been trying to find out my grandparents name but haven't had any luck. If you could direct me to the right search engine I would appreciate it.

I have tried to bring up the Anmoore page but it tells me it is unavailable.

I have some new information that I received from Jim Barbao.

My dads parents were Domitila Sierra Fernandez and Jesus Suarez (that's all I have for him). My mothers parents were Vicenta Fernandez Garcia and Thomas Barbao Gonzalez. If you find out anything different let me know.

Is there anyone who could help me find a first cousin in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Flody

Flody wrote:My dads parents were Domitila Sierra Fernandez and Jesus Suarez (that's all I have for him) My mothers parents were Vicenta Fernandez Garcia and Thomas Barbao Gonzalez.

Hi, Flody, that last bit of information helps.

You said that your mother was Angelina Barbao Suarez and your dad Edward Sierra Suarez.

That tells us that Your parents' original Spanish names were:
Angelina Barbao Fernández and Edward Suarez Sierra.

Their names have been Americanized.

Traditionally a child in Spain would have two last names. One way to think of it is that the child would receive one or more first names and then two last names: the father's first last name and the mother's first last name.

Another way of saying it is that the child's first last name would be the father's father's first last name and the second the mother's father's first last name. With each following generation, the mother's father's last name drops away. Only the father's line is continued.

For both Americans and Spaniards, our primary "last name" is usually our fathers' last name.

I have seen a few Spaniards be called primarily by their mother's father's last name, but usually if they go by just one last name it's the father's father's last name.

It's also important to know that when Spaniards get married, the woman does not take the husband's last name. She keeps the ones she had at birth.


Following this pattern, your name in Spain would have been Floreal Suarez Barbao.


There were two changes that occurred when your parents' names were Americanized.

First, they switched the order of the last names so that the name they considered their primary last name appeared last. (Americans think the last name should appear last, Spaniards place it next to last.)

That's easiest to see in your father's case: Edward Suarez Sierra became Edward Sierra Suarez to make it fit the American pattern.

Second, your mother took her husband's Americanized last name (Suarez, your father's father's first last name) as her own Americanized last name. So, your mother used her father's father's first last name and your father's father's first last name.


I think a lot of the emigrants of this era made these changes because the American officials didn't understand the Spanish system. (And perhaps American officials wouldn't allow a married woman to have a different name from her husband.)


Knowing your grandparents' names lets us know a little about your greatgrandparents.

If your dad's parents were Domitila Sierra Fernandez and Jesus Suarez, then on your father's side:
your grandfather's father was a Suarez,
your grandmother's father was a Sierra,
your grandmother's mother was a Fernández.

If your mother's parents were Vicenta Fernandez Garcia and Thomas Barbao Gonzalez, then on your mother's side:
your grandfather's father was a Barbao,
your grandfather's mother was a González,
your grandmother's father was a Fernández,
your grandmother's mother was a Garcia.

We can also generally assume that the father's father has the same name on back into history, except for (amazingly common) paternity problems related to out-of-wedlock births or extra-marital relations.