Gender Feminine
Meaning & History
Borne by an illegitimate granddaughter of Bartolomé Herrero, the first colonial alcalde of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the island of Tenerife (who had been appointed to the position in 1501 by the conquistador Alonso Fernández de Lugo), in whose case it possibly meant "forced" from Guanche *gərma-ənsa, literally "forced to spend the night". This name was also borne by a sister of the 16th-century Spanish inquisitor and saint Turibius of Mogrovejo. It occurs in the novel Amadis of Gaul (published in 1508; written in the 14th century by an unknown author, and edited and expanded by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo) belonging to the lover of the prince Apolidon.