Floripa: a feminine name behind the geographical nickname?

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the use of the term Floripa as a female name before the city of Desterro was renamed Florianópolis, in 1894, and the dissemination of the old name as a nickname for the capital of the state of Santa Catarina in the 1970s. The study provides evidence to support the hypothesis that the term Floripa did not originate as an abbreviation, but rather as a given name, rare enough to be little recognized in its former use, but adequately homophonous with Florianópolis to be imbued with the idea of ​​abbreviation in the decade of 1970, a period of urban transformations that challenged the collective imagination about the city. Through consultation of 19th-century Brazilian newspapers, via the collection of the Hemeroteca Digital Nacional, several references were found about women named Floripa, Floripes, and Florípedes, names of possible Iberian origin based on the story of the Auto de Floripes, and which were later used as nicknames for Florianópolis. Therefore, the word Floripa may have combined familiarity for some and novelty for many, which may have favored its adoption at a time when discourses about belonging to the city were being reinforced, blending tradition and modernity in the same word.