Esperanza

Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope, derived from the Latin sperare, to hope. Like Consuelo, Dolores and Soledad, it belongs to the group of Spanish names drawn from Christian virtues and titles of the Virgin Mary; Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, Our Lady of Hope, is venerated in Seville and elsewhere. In literature, Esperanza Cordero narrates Sandra Cisneros’s novel The House on Mango Street, and Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising follows a girl who moves from Mexico to California. The Italian equivalent is Speranza and the Catalan is Esperança.