Picture source: CEDEJSince visiting my parents, I have a developed a growing interested in St. Josemaría Escrivá. My mom mentioned a little anecdote about his name and I'd like to share it with you.
It seems that his original name was Jose Maria Escriva. The word "escriba" pronounced without the accent at the end of the word, means "scribe". His classmates would taunt him and his sister with "scribes and pharisees" and this would embarrass little Josemaría. His father told him to never put up with these affronts to their family name and that stuck with him.
It was around 1928 that he added the accent mark to the end of his surname on the "v" so that no one would write Escrivá without the accent mark or with a "b". It no longer meant "scribe".
It should be noted that in Spanish, the "v" and "b" are pronounced the same so it is easily understood why people would make that spelling error when writing the Escrivá name.
Source: The Founder of Opus Dei: The Life of Josemaría Escrivá: Volume I: The Early years by Andrés Vásquez de Prada
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