Not the birds—the islands they’re named for. If your family history runs through Louisiana, Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Venezuela, there’s a good chance you have Canarian ancestors somewhere in the branches. From the 1700s onward, Isleños from the Atlantic archipelago off today’s Moroccan coast—left their homeland to settle Spain’s American colonies, shaping rural lifeways, music, dialects, and foodways that still echo today.¹

Believe it or not, the islands were named for dogs, not birds. The Latin Canariae Insulae most likely refers to large canes (“dogs”) encountered by a Moorish expedition around 40 BCE.²