Within the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Project™ database, the Manggåfan Alimåsak can be traced to some descendants with Leon Guerrero surname. The oldest level of the Manggåfan Alimåsak I have found so far can be traced to the descendants of Juan Jose de Leon Guerrero (1867-?) and Ana Delgado Sablan (Manggåfan Donggat: 1874-?).
(As of this writing I was unable to confirm if this Juan may be the same person as Juan Jose Borja de Leon Guerrero, son of Juan Jose de Leon Guerrero (b. abt 1832) and Vicenta Iglesias de Borja (1836-?).)
From Anthony Ramirez’ previous research “Chamorro Nicknames,” he found that the Manggåfan Alimåsak is also tied to some people with the San Nicolas surname. I am uncertain at this point if the San Nicolas and Leon Guerrero families with the Manggåfan Alimåsak if there may be any direct lineal relationships with each other or if the same clan names are purely coincidental.
References
Ramirez also notes that alimåsak refers to a crab. Interestingly, while performing a quick search on the internet, the term “alimasag” pops up and is also a Tagalog word mostly referring to a blue crab.
In Pale’Eric’s blog, "FAMILY NICKNAMES : ALIMÅSAK" he writes:
"The story I heard says that one of the family ancestors had a little too much of the good stuff to drink, and was with others socializing on the beach. When he got up to walk, he didn't have much of a balance and started to sway to and fro as he walked. This reminded the others of the way the alimåsak walks sideways, and they laughed and started calling him alimåsak."
ADDED 6 August 2013:
In Laura Thompson, “Archaeology of the Marianas” (1932), she recorded the following nickname”
“ALIMASAG, Crab (Zosimus aeneus). A male ancestor of this family was dancing at a gathering and was rather clumsy with his arms. Another man made fun of him, saying: “You dance funny, you hold your arms like an Alimasag.” This is how he got his name.”
Land Record
In a 1901 Guam land record (Estate No. 925) Don Juan Jose de Leon Guerrero filed a petition to formalize his ownership for a parcel of “coconut land located in the Santa Rosa,” that was ceded to him around 1895, by his father-in-law, Vicente Sablan, without an inscribed title to the property.
(Observation Note: This type of land transaction was not uncommon for a person to petition the court due to the lack of an inscribed property title when a land transaction was previously made. In some land records under the Spanish government and early U.S. government, Chamorro nicknames were signified with an "alias" (clan name) followed by the person's name. This land record did not record Don Juan Jose's alias.)
Descendant
According to a funeral announcement, Francisco Pangelinan Leon Guerrero is a grandson of Don Juan Jose de Leon Guerrero. Francisco was born on April 6, 1926 and passed away on August 1, 2005. His parents were Vicente Sablan Leon Guerrero and the former Nieves Unpingco Pangelinan (Manggåfan Mali’).
