I have a daughter who is American and European and of course I prefer the fairy-tale sounding European name than the short English equivalent. So even if you are not Spanish, I think it is fine to name your child with a Mediterranean or Latina name . After all, all Romantic languages are a derivative of Latin.

The names usually share a commonality with other Latin and Romantic cultures, however, some are different because of the influences of preexisting cultures in the regions.

How is my list of Female Spanish names list is different?

I have created a Spanish girls names list which I personally like.  These include Spain other areas of influence and Mexican girl baby names. I took a lot of times to purify this list and eliminate duplicates and spelling errors or ones that did not make sense.  I tried to make this the most complete list possible.  There are well over 1000 girl names from Spain and Latin American on this list. Further, I give it to you on one page. Many websites make your scroll though like 50 pages to see the whole list. I want one list, I can print and and just go through.

I recommend you print this list off and create narrow it down with pen and paper, you can not make decisions like this online. I like the old fashion method. Sit on a hill with a list with your Husband or wife on a nice day.  Select the ones you think sound the prettiest and ask God to help you.

Spanish girls who are dancing in a traditional performance

Spanish girl names

Here is a list I created, it is a download so you can just unzip it and print it. I have it in a plain text file bellow:

Spanish girl names

Another idea is if you are in Latin America or Spain go to an towns old Registro Civil (Civil Registry) and see how names have changed. I went to my ancestors Church records once and saw all kind of interesting names. There were many old Christian names that are not use today.

Catalan names and Basque names for women differ- There are similaries but it is a different universe. Just soemthing to be aware of.

Official names in your passport must be all English letters. – Therefore, Special Spanish charaters or alphabetacial marks are eliminated. However, if you want to have those on your child’s offcial name this is OK. They can be Baptisted and recorded any way you like, but the passport name might be slightly different. At least for me I had to drop a Polish letter and change it to the English alpahbet for my daughter on her passport. Not something to worry about and does not affect the legality of anything.

Why I have excluded the meaning of the names

I decided to leave out the traditional meanings of the names. Why? because if you are choosing a name choose something that sounds good to your ear. Choose something that you personally love. Not something that means this or that, because they all mean something nice, like goodness or purity. It is better to choose a name because you just intuitively love it and then later discover the meaning.

I wanted to remove the clutter and noise and have a purity of sound decide what is best for you. I believe words are energy, like all the universe.

Further, sometimes there is not always an agreement on the meaning, they have like three meanings, therefore look at the rhythm of the name, how it feels to you. I am a spiritual person  (Catholic) and do like the idea that names are based on Saints or have some historical significance, but I keep coming back to what resonates with you the best. Not some name based on a historic book or figure, which is fine, but first consider the purity of the word before the meaning and the meaning will be like aha, this is why I choose this Spanish baby name. I remember in the old days you had to choose Catholic name from a list of registration for your child, now the church does not care and you can baptize your child with anything that is meaningful to you.

What is your criteria for choosing a baby name?

As stated above I think:

• The name should resonate with you, not on what your mother or father or friends think or the origin of the first name or meaning in some book or translation.  I think the greatest way you can respect your parents is by living your own life. They will have their opinions but do not let them sway you. Each generation will choose a new set of names and a new generation will have the most popular and less common names by what is in the collective unconsciousness and personally is important to you. I could tell you in my own family how this went, but it is better you learn are OK with this.
• You should ask God to help you choose the baby of your baby. I firmly believe this is important. I believe in praying for your child before they are born.
• Keep on looking and going over it, if you can not think of a name for your baby, do not worry, put it aside for a while and forget about it. Your preferences will change sometimes.
• What if you can not make a decision as to what is the best name for your daughter? Remember in life there is not such thing as a wrong decision. The main thing is no stress. Some people do not have their name in mine until after the baby is born and they seen the baby for a while No stress, do not yield to the pressure of people around you.

I would be curious about what names you think are the best. I personally like old names and uncommon ones. I am curious how you choose this name and what you based it on. Were you reading a book and the character had a name? Was it based on the name day of a saint on the day the baby was born? Was it a family name? I think the best baby names for girls in Spanish are the ones you just like.

Mexican rice recipe

Ingredients

3 cloves Garlic fresh chopped
1/3 cup of finely chopped Spanish white or yellow onions
1/2  Bell pepper
1/3 tablespoon of cummin
3 tomatoes puree
4 tablespoons of Olive oil
Boiled Long grain white rice
1/4 teaspoon salt

After the rice is cooked, you add it to a pan with oil and simply add onions, pepper, cummin, garlic, salt and tomatoes purée. You can adjust the ingredients of course to taste. This is one of the easiest recipes there is. Some people add bacon fat or very small pieces of ham.

After all is browned you can add a few chilli peppers and some people add grated cheese on the top. The heat from the rice should melt the cheese. Some people like to microwave it but I am a purist and try only to use my black iron skillet on a natural gas stove.

Rice alone is not enough protein to make it a complete meal. It could be a side dish or cheese or beans could be added.

I cooked in a restaurant for many years and the basic thing about cooking is this, it is art not a science. There are too many variable, however, in my opinion the best recipes were those from the highest quality ingredients. If you are making Mexican rice and you use green house tomatoes and generic rice your Spanish or Mexican rice will not taste great. However, if you buy garden fresh tomatoes, real garlic, not Chinese white garlic which is too strong, and quality spices it will taste good not matter how you cook it.

Another thing I learned about cooking is you do not want to overwhelm the main ingredient. If you are cooking rice, you should taste rice and not some soupy mix of whatever.

Variations of rice Mexican style

Some people like to add salsa and cream and beef and all sorts of variation for this recipe. However, I do not like it. I prefer light and in anything you can add something green at the end like arugula. Some people also add chicken broth for flavor or others corn to make it a more complete protein combination and make it more a Latin American recipe for rice.

You can also use different types of rice. White long grain Oryza sativa is the standard but there is also some yellow rice that works. I have never tried Mexican brown rice, but I should. Also you can mix it with wild rice, which is really a grass or grain. Except for wild, rice is not native of the Americas or even Mexico, it was brought by the Spanish.

I am curious if there are real difference in the north and south of Mexico. Most of the recipes you see online are pretty generic. However, if you are from Mexico city is it prepared different than from Yucatan or Baja. It is such a large country I am sure there must be some differences.

If you personally have a variation or any other ideas for this Mexican recipe for rice, please let me know.

Why olive oil

It is the best oil to use as it is monounsaturated. This is a very important point.  Do not dismiss this, if you use Spanish olive oil or any other it does not turn bad when heated or cooked with.

In contrast when you heat polyunsaturated or normal vegetable oil it will destroy your health.  Do not cook with polyunsaturated oil.  It is the worst thing for your weight and health.  Only use butter or olive oil.  Vegetable oil must be raw or for salads. But the main reason is olive oil tastes great.

Why olive oil from Spain?

It is simple economics, I do not understand it myself, but boy I love it.  Spanish olive oil is usually the cheapest. There are so many different brands and flavors that I can not even go into it here, however, for me the country of origin is important for the price.

If you are frugal like me first go right for the for Latina olive oil.  Now that Olea europaea is the center of every supermarket shopping aisle, as it should be first focus on the country of origin.   Then focus in on the specific type you want. I think the low cost producer of Hispanic olive oil is Goya.  This is only about 2 dollars a bottle. This I pour on everything.  It is so cheap it is basically free.

When it comes to Spanish food in general Goya is the cheapest.  However if you take a look at Goya olive oil and hold it up to the light you can see it is also low quality in terms of richness.  It is not bad to use as your main oil, however, if you are preparing something special maybe you want to chose another brand.

How to choose good Hispanic olive oil

I simply hold it up to the light.  Be careful because a lot of the bottles have a tint and can deceive you regarding the color and look.  However, generally if you are in a shop, you can see the quality and even how the oil moves in the bottle. I like the olive oil from the Madrid region as the arid warm climate gives it a good taste but any Español (language) speaking country produced good olive oil.

Do not get too involved with the label and what it says, first press or this or that, look with your eyes. You do not have to read everything you can on it, uses your own senses, taste, smell, look, I think personal experience not someone’s recycled information on the Internet is the best way to choose.  I like a little cloudy unfiltered thick look. However, I think first pressed is the best.

Pomace oil is extracted with a chemical process, is this good for you? Of course the pure olive oil is the best but it comes down to price.  I have to do more research is this Pomace is really all that good for you as they use hexane to extract it.  I think they use this grade in cheap restaurants.

What about Mediterranean oil from olives countries?

Production of olive oil:

1. Spain 32%
2. Italy 22%
3. Greek 16%
4. Rest comes from Tunisia, and other Mediterranean countries.

These are great quality countries but you pay a price. Italy they have this volcanic soil that really changes the taste in positive way, but there is a cost factor, which changes in a negative way.  This is why I stick to Spain.

I am American living in the EU.  For me here in Europe, Spain is the country of choice. If I was in the States I think I would look for Mexican in the future (once it develops this tree crop, and it will) or  now Spanish oil from olives.

Uses of this wonderful oil

1. Olive oil soap
2. I use it for a hand moisturizer
3. Massage for my back or feet or healing uses
4. Mixed with other things can be a good night anti-wrinkle application, make your own that is
5. Put herbs in it like rosemary or even garlic and have it as decoration
6. Use it for burning in a lamp
7. Aromatic uses

Let me know if you think my assessment of Spanish olive oil is correct or I am partial because I like the culture of this country.