The Genealogy of One's Own Name

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz—herself renamed by religious profession—understood that names carry genealogies. She was born Juana Ramírez; the religious name imposed by her order itself carried meaning and erasure. Contemporary identity work benefits from genealogical investigation: Where does my name come from? What languages does it embed? What histories does it carry? Names are colonial inheritances, family legacies, deliberate renamings, and chosen identities simultaneously. Tracing a name's genealogy reveals power relations, migration histories, cultural survival, and creative adaptations. For indigenous peoples, reclaiming original names becomes a decolonial practice. For diaspora communities, names embody stories of displacement and adaptation. For people changing names through transition or self-definition, the practice of naming becomes active identity work. Sor Juana's tradition suggests that understanding the genealogy of one's name—its origins, changes, meanings across languages and contexts—is essential intellectual work. This genealogical investigation helps people claim or reclaim their names consciously rather than inheriting them unconsciously, transforming identity markers into expressions of knowledge and agency.