Spanish Terms Used in New Mexico Catholic Church RecordsAnd Other New Mexico Genealogy RecordsSpanish word - English meaning Espanol - Spanish Indio - Indian Mestizo - mixture of Spanish & Mexican Indian Coyote - mixture of Indian & Mestizo Mulato - usually this means mixture of Spanish & African, but in the records of New Mexico it may refer to an unknown racial mixture Genizaro - an Indian who became part of the Spanish community and adopted the Spanish way of life (often these are plains Indians) Natural - parents of the child were not married Legitimo (legitimate) - parents of the child were married Don - title of respect; the feminine form Dona is sometimes abbreviated Da. Criado - servant (Feminine forms of these words will end in the letter "a.") Sources: Some of this list was derived from the book: A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain by Pedro Alonso O'Crouley, originally published in 1774; Translated and edited by Sean Galvin (San Francisco: J. Howell, 1972), page 19. Also see the Mexico Research Outline from the Family History Library Return to the Main Page (Belen, New Mexico Genealogy Records Database) |