"The Others" Renamed: Identity and Anthroponomy in Judeo-Converso Contexts in the 15th Century

One of the most immediate effects of the conversion of the Jews during the Middle Ages in the Hispanic Kingdoms was the obligation to adopt a Christian name. The convert had to abandon his old Jewish name in order to erase any signs of its past Judaism and, thus, be integrated into mainstream society. The new name adopted became one of the most unique signs for judeoconverso identity. There is scarce evidence on what were the forms and consequences of this onomastic recategorization, but there is no doubt that it was a very significant change within the acculturation process that began with each individual conversion.

The aim of this paper is to shed new light on these designation processes, studying some of the factors involved in the construction of this new onomastic identity: from the general aspects that regulated the name changes of religious minorities to the linguistic forms taken by New Christians, which usually followed the same patterns of the Old Christian anthroponomy system. Thereby, It is intended to better document the onomastic changes among the Crypto- Jewish population of late XVth century and analyze the legal and social problems caused by this new situation, that can be traced in various sources, both inquisitorial and rabbinical.