Philippine names

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the Philippines, all Filipinos, Spaniards, and Americans follow the conventional American form: First name-Middle name-Surname. For persons of legitimate descent, the mother's surname becomes the legal middle name. The Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese use their own naming scheme, that is, Surname-First name-Generation name.

Almost all Filipinos have either English or Spanish names, and a majority of them also have a Filipino nickname. For example, a man named Rafael (Spanish) would be given a Filipino nickname of Paeng, coming from Rafael. In more formal occasions, Filipinos use the American surname first type. For example, a Filipino named John Gomez Gonzales would render his name (in formal occasions) as Gonzales, John Gomez.

The new generation of Chinese have English names, but there are still members of the olden generation living bearing completely Chinese names and also having an English nickname. For example, a man named Go Sun Tiak can also write his name as David Go (if he likes), or even as David Go Sun Tiak. Many of the Chinese also have double Spanish names, so, some Chinese people can have a name as Vicente Fernando Tan Gi Hieng.