My father's family is from Mexico.

I don't know if this is still the case, but in building my family tree, I've found that it was very common for all boys to be given the first name Jose and all girls to be given the first name Maria. They would then go by their middle name. The first name was often simply abbreviated as "J." or "MA."

Spanish naming customs give the surnames of both parents to the children.

I've observed a lot of Catholic influences on names. Characteristics of Mary, for example: Maria de la Luz (of the light), Maria de la Trinidad (of the trinity), Maria del Refugio (of the refuge), Maria de los Dolores (of sorrows), etc.

Diminutives are often given with "ita" or "ito." For example, my grandmother was Martina, often affectionately called Martinita. My great-grandfather was Emilio, and his son Emilio Jr. was "Milito."

Some names that were repeated a lot in my family were Hipolito (ee-poe-LEE-to), Rafael, Valentin, Edubiges (eh-DOO-vee-hes), Librado, Alfredo, and Pantaleon.