Mexican Nickname: what is yours and what does mine mean?
Hi! Mis abuelos were all immigrants of Mexico. Spanish was dang near my first language as that was all that was spoken when they cared for me. My abuelo on my moms side passed away when I was 4 and he gave me my nickname of Cleta (which stopped being used cause my mom stopped letting me see basically everyone who spoke Spanish I was about 5. She also didn’t speak to me in Spanish.
So now I (F29) and trying to reconnect with my roots and prepare for my future children so they can be bilingual. I love being Latina and it feels shameful to not be fluent in Spanish anymore 🥲
Anyways.. my abuelo was an amazing man. Tho I was young when he passed, I feel and was always told that I was super close to him. I was told I had him wrapped around my lil finger lol. I actually legally changed my last name to his when I turned 18 cause I had a deadbeat dad and since my abuelo had purchase an alias back in the day when he migrated, nobody ever got to carry his last name: that was till I changed mine. His last name then got to put across every college softball jersey I wore and called in every line up I was ever part of. 💖
I’ve seen a trend on TikTok when Mexican families say their Mexican nickname and their actual name. I remember my abuelo used to call me Cleta. But I don’t actually know what it means. None of my fluent friends have ever been able to tell me cause they don’t know.. am I being delusional and making up a word from whatever memory?!
Now the actual question. What does Cleta mean?