Modern traditions of Fuerteventura

It is still a tradition throughout Spain that children are given names approved by the local registery office. The choice of first names is therefore much more limited than in the UK which explains why there are so many Juans, Joses and Marias.

When the Beckhams named their third child Cruz, it raised a few eyebrows in Spain as that name is usually reserved for girls.

However, in the Canary Islands parents have a much wider choice of names than on Mainland Spain. They can dive in and use old Canarian names which ae usually derived from the original settlers the Guanches who spoke a language similar to that in North West Africa.

For instance, Aday is one of the most popular bos names on Fuerteventura. For the girls, Chaxiraxi - normally shortened to Chaxi - comes from the Canarian name for the Virgin of Candelaria.

Other boys names include Echeydey (the luminous one) Besay (a powerful man) Ayose (the name of the king of Jandia when the Spanish arrived) and Altahay (a historic warrior from Fuerteventura).

For the girls, expect to hear them called Yaiza (an ancient princess), Mifaya (the daughter of King Ayose), Tayri (old Canarian word for love) or Tindaya (a popular girl's name on Fuerteventura from the sacred Mount Tindaya)

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