Onomastics Among Hispanic Migrants in South Central Pennsylvania

This paper analyzes onomastic choices and their possible reasons in the migrant Hispanic population in Pennsylvania. The investigation considers the double Hispanic surname system and first-name choices: Spanish ver- sus English, as well as creative first names. The data were initially collected from the Chambersburg, PA, school district. Interviews with the migrants allowed determining some of the reasons for the choices. In addition, the data from two counties were then analyzed to confirm the trends observed in the smaller pool. The analysis finds that the onomastic choices in this population show a tendency towards keeping the standards of the culture of origin for first names, with some accommodation to American culture, and a tendency to adopt American standards with surnames.