• zaphod@sopuli.xyz
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    1 day ago

    Masculine form would be santo like in Santo Domingo. San seems to be an abbreviated form of that.

    • quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      San is the apocope of santo (masculine form of saint), all masculine names use the form San except those that start with the syllables to- or do-.

    • Venia Silente@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      Yeah, “Santo” is the better example. I’m actually not sure if there’s any particular distinction for why sme place names are “San” and other are “Santo”, perhaps it comes from historical baggage from whichever branches of explorers / conquerers founded each town.

      • FloMo@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        To the best if my knowledge, Santo is used to clarify the difference between the title and the name.

        Santo Tomás being the simplest example I can think of, as “San Tomás” can be confused as as “Santo Más”.

        Everything else is pretty spot on and an excellent explanation!