Nominal Assimilation: The Ethnic and National Identities of the Gitanos or Calé of Spain as Shown by their Surnames in the 1783–1785 Census

Abstract

AbstractIn 1783, the King of Spain Carlos III enacted the last Royal Order for the control and assimilation of Gitanos or Calé. The law required that local authorities listed the Gitanos living in their counties. The resulting census is the most important document on the Spanish Romani written during the ancien régime. Unfortunately, its data has never been studied in depth. This paper analyzes the surnames of the 12,037 Gitano persons identified in the census and finds 567 different heritable family names. Interestingly, 10% of these surnames identified 75% of the Gitano population. The analysis shows that Gitanos already had the same names they have today, and that it is possible to trace personal genealogies linking Gitano people from this census with people alive now, some fourteen generations later. Gitano surnames were all Hispanic and many of them of aristocratic origin. Some were common to all Gitano groups, but most followed regional patterns and were differentiated by region and even by province. Baptism, mixed marriages, and imitation of neighbors were the most likely sources for the adoption of these surnames. Gitanos also used personal and family nicknames in their communities, but their official names were a crucial part of their personal and collective identity. Resistance, opposition, and contrasting cultural strategies should not ignore the hybridizing and creative adaptations of the Romani peoples.