Indian Names Now in Vogue in Brazil
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Ecology is now in vogue in Brazil, and so are Indian names.
To meet a growing demand from Brazilians keen on giving their newborns indigenous names, the official Indian agency, Funai, has published the first dictionary of Indian names.
“We get dozens of calls each day from people wanting to give their children Indian names. Now they can consult the dictionary,” said Luis Carlos Sintonio, head of Funai’s cultural service.
The dictionary, which took two years to compile, lists 620 Indian names and their meanings. The names represent more than 20 Brazilian Indian tribes, and their meanings are usually related to the Amazon rain forest, Sintonio said.
Among the popular Brazilian Indian names in the dictionary are Maira, which means heroine or mystical; Ari, which means moon in the dialect of a Mato Grosso tribe, and Amana, Tupi for rain.
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