Talk:Antonio López de Santa Anna

Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna?
¡Hola! In an edit on February 18, 2022, User:Bedivere took it upon himself to change every instance of "Santa Anna" in the article to "López de Santa Anna." He reiterated this in an edit on October 5, 2023, again changing every instance of "Santa Anna" in the article back to "López de Santa Anna." The reasoning, of course, is that in Spanish naming customs his full paternal surname is "López de Santa Anna." However, WAS that and IS that the person's common name ? This is English Wikipedia, and in English-language sources, in Texas history sources, he is commonly referred to as just "Santa Anna." Furthermore, even in Spanish-speaking sources of the time, he is often referred to as just "Santa Anna." The best and standard biography of him in English is Will Fowler's Santa Anna of Mexico. It uses "Santa Anna" throughout. Just one example from a Mexican source, in a book from 1850, the title of the book is: Historia de México y del general Antonio Lopez de Santa-Anna. Okay, the full form. But on the very next page is an image of "General Santa-Anna." It pretty much uses "Santa-Anna" throughout, not "López de Santa Anna." Most sources I have seen (in a troll through Google Books), from the 1800s, in both Spanish and English, may use his full name from time to time, or the first time, but then typically use "Santa Anna" as the short form. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

This article should use the standard form. This does not result from any animus against Spanish naming practices or history, but because, in English (and dare I say, in Spanish) it is the standard usage—it is his common name (see COMMONNAME)—and it is the standard usage in secondary sources, etc. Best, TuckerResearch (talk) 16:25, 8 February 2024 (UTC)


 * I should note, too, that the Spanish language article for Santa Anna (Antonio López de Santa Anna) uses "Santa Anna" far more often than "López de Santa Anna." TuckerResearch (talk) 18:08, 9 February 2024 (UTC)


 * I have taken the liberty of reducing most instances of "López de Santa Anna" to just "Santa Anna." The overzealous editor who added all the "López de"s even added them to historical quotations where they did not exist and the titles of citations!  For shame!  As stated above: (1) the man's common name, in English and Spanish, is "Santa Anna"; (2) pretty much all secondary source works call him, after first using his full name, "Santa Anna"; (3) even the Spanish-language Wikipedia uses "Santa Anna"; etc.  Even his historical followers were called "santanistas," not "lopezistas." TuckerResearch (talk) 17:48, 5 March 2024 (UTC)