One thing that I observed during the time that I was in these kingdoms of Peru was, that they are accustomed to name their children, in most of the provinces, when they are fifteen or twenty days old. This name is retained until they are ten or twelve years old, when they receive another, the relations and friends of the father having previously been assembled on a certain day which is set apart for such purposes. They dance and drink according to their usual custom, and then one of them, who is the oldest and most respected, cuts the hair and nails of the boy or girl who receives the new name. The hair and nails are preserved with great care. The names which they receive are those of villages, birds, plants, or fish.

I learnt these particulars because an Indian servant whom I employed was called Urco, which means sheep; another was called Llama, also a name for sheep; and another Piscu, which means a bird. Some of the Indians are careful to retain the names of their fathers and grandfathers. The chiefs and principal men seek out names according to their pleasure. For Atahualpa (the Ynca whom the Spaniards captured in the province of Caxamarca) means “a fowl,” and his father was called Huayna Ccapac, which signifies. “a rich youth.”