Asturian-American Migration Forum

The Asturian name of the towns, cities, rivers, etc are really nice and the origin of such names is, in some instances, very interesting. Here, I am including some of them. I took this information from the book of Jesús Antonio González Calle: "History of Corvera de Asturias and its area" (1996).

1. XUNCEU. In Molleda (Corvera). It comes from the Asturian "xuncu" and it from the latin iuncum (reed). The corresponding Spanish word would be "juncar" or "juncal" (reed bed).

2. LA LLAMERA. In Villa (Corvera). It comes from the Asturian "llamera" and it from the Celtic lemaria (poplar).

3. MURIA. In Solis and Villa (Corvera). It comes from the Asturian "muria" (wall, ruins), which in turn is related with the Basque "muru" (pile of stones) or with the latin murus (wall). In Asturias MURIA uses to refer to the existence of ancient ruins, particularly Roman villae (Roman small towns)

More names, in a next post.
Marta.

Hi friends,
Here is another name, common in Asturias.

LA GRANDA. (In Cancienes. Corvera, but also in many other places). It comes from the Asturian “granda” , a word of different possible origins: from the Celtic and related with the Portuguese gandara, with the Rhaetic ganda (stony hillside), with the Swiss gand and the Irish ganen (sand).

The meaning of GRANDA is:
- sterile hill
- sandy hill
- stony hill

Note:

Raetia, also spelled Rhaetia, ancient Roman province comprising Vorarlberg and Tirol states in present-day Austria, the eastern cantons of Switzerland, and parts of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg states in Germany. Its native inhabitants were probably of mixed Illyrian and Celtic stock.
The area was conquered by Rome in 15 bc and became an important part of the empire, but not for its economic value, which was small; rather, Raetia blocked the most convenient routes for an invader of Italy from the north by its control of a network of highways between Italy and the Danube River....ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

Do you think "Grandia" or maybe "Grandía" is related to Granda? I have met a family in the US with that Spanish surname.

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¿Crees que "Grandia" o quizás "Grandía" sea relacionado a Granda? Conozco de una familia con el apellido "Grandia" en los EEUU.

Marta Elena, Do you think "Llamera" could come from wellspring or spring, a place where water burts out of the ground? In West Asturian, that's what l.lamas means, a spring. As in the village of L.lamas del Mouro...