Filipino naming coventions

In the Philippines, varying naming customs are observed, whether it was family name first, given name last, a mixture of native conventions with those of neighbouring territories. The most common iteration amongst Filipinos is a blend of the older Spanish system and Anglo-American conventions, where there is a distinction between the "Christian name" from "surname". The construct of having several names in the middle name convention is common to all systems, but to have multiple "first" names and only one middle and last name is a result of the blending of American and Spanish naming customs. So in this case the Philippine naming custom is coincidentally identical to the Portuguese name customs.

Common conventions

For the most part, most Filipinos abide by the Spanish system of using both paternal and maternal surnames, the latter constituting the "middle name". An example would be John Paul Reyes y Mercado becoming John Paul Mercado Reyes, where the y is used only for legal purposes and is otherwise dropped. The middle name in its natural sense would have been the second name if the person had one, but is never counted as an individual's given name.

Filipinos tend to be people with middle names and surnames derived from Chinese, Spanish, or Philippine roots combined with Spanish or English given names (can be more than one). Some typical combinations are: "María Bernadette de los Reyes Cuyegkeng," "Iván Theophilo R. Ho," "George Bernard T. Cho III," "Hillary P. Dimagiba," "Carmencita Shih Gatdula," "John Erickson Miguel Muñoz Chan," "Jimson Ricardo Chadwick Uy Cuenco Jr." "Irish Diamond Fuentes Amoroso," and so on (these examples are fictional). A few names also derive from Tagalog and other Philippine languages but these are not common: "Bayani" (hero), "Luningning" (brightness/sheen), "Dakila" (great), "Kalayaan" (freedom), "Isagani" (unknown meaning).

Spanish

Almost all Filipinos have Spanish or Spanish-sounding surnames imposed on them for taxing reasons (See: Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames), and a number of them have indigenous Filipino surnames. On 21 November 1849, Governor General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa issued a decree stating that Filipinos should adopt Spanish surnames to make census counting easier. Some Filipinos retained their native precolonial names, especially those who were exempted from the Clavería decree such as the descendants of rulers of the Maharlika or noble class. These surnames include Lacadola, Urduja and Tupas who each descended from different Datus. They were allowed to keep the name to claim tax exemptions. Most younger Filipinos have English Christian names (e.g. Andrew, Candice, Francis, Mark, Paul etc.) but many also bear Spanish (e.g. Ana, Antonio, Enrique, Lucho, Maria, Miguel etc.) or indigenous Filipino first names (e.g. Ligaya, Liwayway, Makisig, Mayumi). Filipinos rarely use diacritics save for the tilde on the ñ, which is not universal because of the widespread use of American standard typewriters and keyboards, which sometimes include the ñ and not include accented vowels. Computer keyboards currently and have always used the U.S. standard layout, which includes neither ñ nor combining diacritics. Spanish names, however, are vocally stressed as they would be by Spanish-speakers.

The Spanish surname category provides the most common surnames in the Philippines. These include Mendoza, García, del Rosario, (de la) Cruz, (de los) Reyes, (de los) Santos, González/Gonzales, Torres and López.^[1]

Chinese and Arabic

Many modern-day Chinese Filipinos have last names with one syllable like Lim, Tan, and Sy. However, early Chinese Filipino families took on the complete name of their patriarch, thus their names had three syllables. These were adopted into the mainstream Filipino surnames and don't exist anywhere else in the world. Their names were transcribed using the Spanish orthography in effect during the 19th century.

Of particular interest is the convention of Chinese surnames ending in -co or -ko. That suffix is an honorific in the Chinese language retained in the surname. However, "co" by itself is also a valid surname. In general, if it is at the end it is an honorific. An example of this is Cojuangco. Their patriarch was Co Chi Kuan, who was addressed respectfully as Co Kuan Co (one given name dropped). Co Kuan Co eventually became Cojuangco to better adapt to the social norms dictated in the Spanish era.

The use of Arabic names is prominent among the Filipino Muslims. The country has Islamic influence from what are now Arabs, Persians, Malays, Indonesians, and Indians, who have traded with ancestors of Filipinos, and introduced Islam to the southern parts of the archipelago beginning in the 13th century. Some names, including Fátima, Omar, and Soraya, bear direct influence from Arab sources and Spanish ones, given the latter's period under Moorish rule.

Autochthonous surnames

These are some non-Hispanic surnames unique to the native naming convention. Some surnames have a literal meaning in Philippine languages while others are derived from immigrants altering their names to conform to the colonial Spanish nomenclature.^[1]

Cordilleran

Unlike their lowlander counterparts, Igorots living in the Cordillera Central in northern Luzon were not conquered by the Spaniards, thereby preserving their naming customs from foreign influence. Each group had their own naming customs, but generally, like Indonesian names, there is only one given name and no surname to speak of. The given name's meaning is usually connected to natural phenomena or objects, such as danum for water. It was only the Igorots who have had interacted with Spaniards and lowlanders for trade who were given a name that follows the binomial "first name"-"surname" system, such as Mateo Cariño and Mateo Carantes.

It was only at the turn of the 20th century and the advent of the American occupation of the Philippines that the naming customs of the Igorots slowly conformed with the national legal naming system used to today, aided by the evangelization efforts of American Protestant missionaries. Most older people, however, still keep the singular given name given to them by their parents while also using the so-called "Christian name" to conform to Philippine law. The singular given names of some individuals living in the early 20th century have since been adopted as a surname by their descendants.

Some examples of Cordilleran names/surnames:

• Aliguyon
• Begtang
• Cosalan
• Lumas-e
• Lumaad
• Tauli
• Wang-od

Surnames of Indo-Malay and Indonesian influence

Note: This is not a complete list

• Ancatan (from Malay, "force"; may be translated as with surname "(la) Fuerza")
• Bahandi (from Visayan languages, "treasure")
• Bansagnon (from Visayan)
• Diwata/Diuata (from Visayan languages, "deity")
• Gallóra (Hispanicised form of Garuda)
• Lakan/Lacan (from a Tagalog noble title)
• Lacsina (from Sanskrit Dakshina; "south", "southern")
• Lakandula/Lacandula/Lacandola - "lord of the palace"
• Laxamana/Lacsamana (derived from Lakshmana in the epic Ramayana; today a Malay military rank equivalent to admiral)
• Magbanua (from Visayan, "to settle")
• Magat (from Malaysian title megat)
• Mutya/Mutia (from Tagalog, "pearl")
• Palad (from Tagalog, "fate")
• Salalila (fron Sanskrit Śarīra)
• Sampulna (from Sanskrit Sampurna)
• Tala (from Sanskrit tara, "star")

Surnames of Chinese origin

The list are surnames of Chinese people living in the Philippines, primarily in the old Chinatown of Binondo, Manila. Some multi-syllabic surnames, particularly with the -co and -ko honorific endings, were adapted in the Spanish Era and thus retain Spanish spellings, while more recent ones tend to comprise one syllable. Note: This is not a complete list.

Iberian surnames

• Note: This is not a complete list of surnames. Some are not listed here.

The vast majority of Filipinos have Spanish, Basque, French, Portuguese, Catalan and Galician surnames, but such surnames does not indicate Iberian ancestry. But some of the Filipinos are direct descendants or descendants of mestizos. These type of surnames are patristic, Christian, or words from Spanish or other Franco-Iberian languages . Examples of surnames are

Spanish Surnames

Prefix "de-", "de la-" and "del-" are:

• de las Alas
• de Asis
• del Blanco
• del Carmen
• del Fonso
• de Castro
• del Castillo
• de la Cerna
• de la Cruz
• de la Cuesta
• de Dios
• de la Fuente
• de Gala
• de Galicia
• de Guía
• de Guzmán
• de León
• de Mesa
• del Mundo
• de Ocampo
• de la Paz
• de la Peña
• de lazo
• de los Reyes
• de los Santos
• de los Trinos
• de Rosas
• del Rosario
• de la Rama
• de la Rosa
• de la Torre
• del Valle
• de la Vega
• de Villa

^[1]

Spanish names and saints used as surnames

• Note: This is not a complete list of names. Some are listed above (under Spanish surnames).

Some Filipinos use Spanish names and names of saints as their surnames.

Here are:

Regions of European countries as surnames

Filipinos also bear Hispanized translations of the names of regions, states and provinces of countries and small sovereign entities of Europe. Here are:

• Alemania - Germany
• Aragon - Autonomus Community of Aragon
• Baleares - Balearic Islands
• Baviera - Free State of Bavaria
• Belgica - Belgium
• del Castillo - from Castile, a historical region of Spain
• Cataluña - Catalonia
• Cerdeña - Sardinia
• Córcega - Corsica Island, France
• Galicia - Galicia
• Gádor - Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain)
• Ginebra - Canton of Geneva
• Granada - Province of Granada, Spain
• Lacio - Lazio
• Llanes - Llanes
• de León - Province of León
• Loren - Lorraine
• Marbella - Marbella
• Madrid - Madrid
• Navarro - Navarre
• de Murcia - Region of Murcia, Spain
• Pamplona - Pamplona, Spain
• Piamonte - Piedmont, Italy
• Sajonia - Free State of Saxony
• Sarre - State of Saarland
• Suiza - Switzerland
• Torino - Turin, Italy
• Valladolid Valladolid, Spain

Basque Surnames

• Note: This is not a complete list of Basque Surnames. Some are listed above (under Spanish surnames).

Some Filipinos bears Basque-originated surnames, either they are Basque-Filipino mestizos, Basques living in the Philippines, or just using.

• Aboitiz
• Acarregui
• Aguirre
• Araneta
• Aransazó (from Arantzazu)
• Arcega
• Arlegui
• Arrieta
• Artadi
• Arteada
• Ayala
• Bolívar
• Campo
• Carranza
• Carriaga
• Echande
• Echegaray
• Echeverría/Echevaría/Echiverri
• Elcano
• Elazégui
• Elizalde
• Esquivel
• Gainza
• Garay
• García
• Goya
• Gozón (from Gotzon)
• Ibarra (from Eibarramendia)
• Inchausti
• Íñiguez (from Iñigo, Enneko)
• Jauregui
• Jiménez
• Larrazábal
• Lordizábal
• Loyola
• Mendiola
• Mendoza
• Mendeluz
• Mendizabal
• Mijura
• Nación
• Navarro (Sephardic Basque)
• Norzagaray
• Ochoa (colloquial with Lopez)
• Orcullo
• Oreta (from Ureta)
• Oyanguren
• Peji
• Satrústegui
• Tartajo
• Torrontegui
• Velasco
• Verano ^[5]
• Vidanes (from Bidane)
• Vidarte
• Vidaurrazaga
• Zabala
• Zaldivar
• Zaldúa
• Zambrano
• Zubiri
• Zuñiga
• Zuzuarregui

Catalan Surnames

• Note: This is not a complete list of Catalan Surnames. Some are listed above (under Spanish surnames).

Some Catalan surnames were recorded. Here are:

• Abella
• Amador
• Argüelles
• Arroyo
• Balaguer
• Bara
• Barba
• Castelló
• Catalán
• Coloma
• Cúa
• Elías
• Espina
• Fábregas
• Ferrando (from Ferrand)
• Fonda
• Fortich
• Galleros
• Gil
• Lluch
• Pamplona
• Ripoll

French Surnames

• Note: This is not a complete list of French Surnames, though this may also fall under European Surnames or Spanish surnames above.

Here are the following:

• Apostol
• Artigue
• Asprec
• Bacha
• Bonnevi
• Brousseau
• Cuchapin (a hispanization of Couchepin)
• D'ayot (also spelled as Dayot)
• Fabian
• Fabre
• Félix
• Gallardo (a hispanization of Gaillard)
• Milano
• Palomár (a hispanization of Palomer)
• Pariente (a hispanization of Parent)
• Pietán (a hispanization of Pétain)
• Segui
• Solomon
• Tobias
• Zosa

Galician Surnames

• Note: This is not a complete list of Galician Surnames. Some are listed above (under Spanish surnames).

Filipinos also bear Galician surnames:

• Alonzo
• Álvarez
• Ares (Arias)
• Bermúdez
• Dantes
• Díaz
• Domínguez
• Enríquez
• Escalera
• Hernáez (Galician variation of Hernández)
• Goya
• Núñez
• Paez - used by some Cebuanos (Peláez)
• Suárez
• Vázquez (Velázquez)
• Yañez

Portuguese or Portuguese-originated Surnames

The Portuguese were among one of the earliest explorers of the Philippines, even before Ferdinand Magellan (who himself was also a Portuguese, working for Spain), one of their earliest discoveries was the former Kingdom of Luzon (now the Province of Pampanga).

• Abreo (from Abreu)
• Acebedo or Acevedo (from Azevedo and acevinho, i.e. holly wood)
• Aguas
• Agudo
• Almeda (from Almeida)
• Amaral
• Andrada or Andrade
• Araújo
• Avila
• Barros
• Braganza (from Bragança)
• Bonachita
• Cabral (Cabrales in Spanish)
• Cardoso
• Castro (de Castro in Spanish)
• Campos
• Cordel
• Cordero (a Spanish variation, from Cordeiro)
• Costa
• Fonseca
• Galupo
• Gama
• Guvea (from Gouveia)
• Lisbon (from Lisboa)
• Maceda/Macedo
• Matos
• Melo
• Miranda
• Noguiera (a Spanish variation, form Noguieira)
• Oporto
• Pereira
• Pinto
• Rivas
• Sazon (Jewish origin, Portuguese Saçom)
• Silva (Latin origin: Portugal, Brazil, Italy & Spain. Most common surname in Portugal. )
• Soza (from Souza)
• Tavares
• Tejero (a Spanish variation, from Texeira)
• Varela
• Vaz

Filipino-Japanese surnames

Some Filipinos bear Japanese surnames. They most likely indicate Japanese ancestry either from the many Japanese who settled during pre-colonial Philippines when it was separated among different nations (kingdoms, rajahnates, sultanates, tribes, etc.), colonial times, or more recently from World War II.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} During the Macapagal and Marcos administrations, only few Japanese Filipinos have entered military services and this was very limited. These people in military service during that time are descendants of World War II Japanese soldiers who were captured, pardoned and settled in the Philippines and married Filipino women. Today, some Japanese immigrants living in the Philippines are Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei, and/or Gosei; however, these generations are not categorized (unlike in U.S. and Brazil, and other countries where generations of Japanese immigrants are categorized).

• Abe
• Arai
• Fujimori
• Hakamada
• Hamada
• Harata
• Hasegawa
• Iitaoka
• Iwatani
• Iwamoto
• Inoue
• Ishida
• Ishii
• Ishiizu
• Kato
• Kaneko
• Kimura
• Kimimoto
• Kishimoto
• Kobayashi
• Koizumi
• Matsuda
• Miyaki
• Mori
• Muraoka
• Nakamura
• Nato
• Ogasawara
• Okubo
• Sato
• Shiochi
• Sia
• Suzuki
• Tanaka
• Tsukada
• Yamada
• Yamamoto
• Yamato
• Yamazaki
• Yoshida
• Yoshikawa
• Yoshizaki

Anglo-American English surnames

These are the surnames of Filipinos of British and/or American parentage, as these surnames are both shared by the Americans and the British. But much of the Filipinos bearing these surnames were more descended from their American fathers or grandfathers. These surnames are also carried by fathers and grandfathers from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

• Adams(on)
• Anderson
• Andrews
• Bailey
• Bennet
• Bryant
• Brown
• Burton
• Clark
• Collins
• Cox
• Cunningham
• Curtis
• Davis
• Dalrymple
• Day
• Edwards
• Fitzpatrick
• Fuller
• Gordon
• Gray
• Griffin
• Hagedorn
• Hill
• Hopkins
• Howard
• Hughes
• James
• Jenkins
• Jones
• Keller
• King
• Lambert
• Logan
• Long
• Man
• Marsh
• Martins
• McAleese
• McCrae
• McDonnell
• McKnight
• Miller
• Morgan
• Morris
• Mullaly
• Neal/O'Neal
• Parker
• Pearson
• Peterson
• Phillips
• Raffles
• Reading
• Rice
• Ricketts
• Richards(on)
• Russel
• Sanderson
• Scott
• Sinclair
• Smith
• Sutcliffe
• Taylor
• Thompson
• Ward
• West
• Wilson
• Wood
• Younghusband

German surnames

A number of Filipino-Germans, Filipino-Austrians, Filipino-Swiss and Filipino descendants of German-Americans bear these surnames. Some have German surnames because of the immigration of the Jewish communities from Europe during the Commonwealth era in the Philippines.

• Arnold
• Baumgartner/Bumgardner
• Becker
• Benig
• Deutzmann
• Discher
• Dorschner
• Eberbach
• Eichoff
• Eigenmann
• von Einsiedel
• Fischer
• Geisler
• Gersbach
• von Giese
• Gritz
• Grosse
• Harder
• Hartweg
• Heck
• Heinz
• Hoffmann
• Kaufmann
• Klaus
• Krapf
• Lorenz
• Ludwig
• Meyer
• Müller
• Mühlach
• Neumann
• Obach
• Richter
• Schmidt
• Schneider
• Schnittka
• Schröck
• Schünemann
• Stöckinger
• Seifert
• Strauss
• Töngi
• Wagner
• Weber
• Zobel
• Zimmer

Surnames of Filipino Muslims

• Note: Not a complete list

These are the surnames borne by Filipino Muslims (Maranaos, Maguindanaos, Tausugs, Iranuns, and others):

Other Filipino Surnames of Foreign Origins

Indian/Hindu names

• Chowdhary (Indian चौधरी, Caudhari) - also an honorific title which means "Chief", "Head" or "Leader")
• Raj (Indian राज्य - "Kingdom")
• Singh (Indian सिंह - "Lion"), it is a middle name that is sometimes used as family name

English/American/Latin

• Monfort (American/British "Mountfort")
• Saltat (Latin "dance")

French

• Bonnevie (French Bonne Vie or "good life")
• Ruais (French)
• Somero or Someroux (French)

Greek

• Amaranto (Greek αμάραντος - "amaranth" or "unfading")

Italian

• Ambrosio (Italian "Of the Immortals"),
• Calda (Italian - "Hot")
• Castiglione (Italian - "Castille" / "castle")
• Guidicelli (Italian)
• Marfori (Italian Marforri)
• Malferari (Italian Malferarri)
• Parma (Italian, indirect family branch)
• Piccio (Italian)
• Schiavone

Middle Eastern

• Paza (Iberian, Ottoman Turkish "Paşa")

Portuguese

• Barceló (Portuguese "Barcelos")
• Bonachita (Portuguese)
• Mancebo (Portuguese/Spanish "youth" or "boy")
• Pacheco (Portuguese)
• Portogalera (Portuguese/Spanish- [Puertogalera] - "galley harbor/port")
• Vacalares (Portuguese - root word "va" and "calar" which means "will silence/kill")
• Vedano(Italian/Portuguese - "see")

Spanish

• Babia (Spanish/Mexican/Slovak Babje )
• Balbutin (Spanish)
• Galleros (Spanish)
• Godinez (Hispanized, derived from Russian surname Godunov, Годунов)
• Mortiz (Spanish or Latin, root word "muerte" or "mort", respectively which means "death")
• Pamplona (Spanish)
• Portogalera (Portuguese/Spanish- [Puertogalera] - "galley harbor/port")
• Ranido (Spanish)
• Roxas/Rojas (Mexican Spanish - "red/s")
• Santander (Spanish)
• Subido (Spanish, which means "improved")
• Quibranza (Mexican)

Others

• Kehanu (Hawaiian "breeze over the mountains", sometimes akin to "Quijáno")

Hispanicised foreign surnames

Filipinos bearing mostly non-indigenous, non-Hispanic surnames have over time altered these for the sake of convenience, to make them sound more Spanish and/or conform with Spanish naming conventions, or for no other reason.

• Alcabasa (contraction of Spanish "el cabeza", "the head")
• Bordeos (Spanish Bordeux)
• Malferari (Italian Malferarri)
• Marfori (Italian Marforri)
• Monfort (American/British "Mountfort")
• Nery (Anglicised from Neri)
• Galorport (from portogalera)
• Gituaban (Spanish Getuavan)
• Pemonte (from Italian and Spanish Piemonte)

Other altered and combined surnames

Here are other alterations of Spanish and foreign surnames that are common in Visayan-speaking areas:

• Bagatsing (fusion of two Indian names - Bhagat and Singh) e.g. former Manila mayor Ramon Bagatsing, actor Raymond Bagatsing, etc.
• Englis (fusion of Spanish "Inglés" and "English")
• Golis (Spanish, Golez)
• Gomis (Spanish, Gómez)
• Ranis (origin unknown, probably Spanish Ranez)
• Sendaydiego (a possible combination of Japanese Sendai 仙台 and Spanish Diego)
• Tulfo (originally Bertulfo; spelling modified to separate from other relations sharing surname after a falling-out.)
• Valmorida (a combination from Japanese Morita 森田 and Spanish word "valle" - "valley")
• Wahiman (originally Ojiman/Ohiman; same reason as Tulfo, above)

The Spanish Names & Surnames of Gemstone

• Agata (Agate)
• Esmeralda (Emerald)
• Jacinto
• Topacio (Topaz)

Maternal middle names and Paternal family surnames

Christians (as well as certain Muslims, Chinese Filipinos, and others) in the Philippines formerly followed naming patterns practiced throughout the Spanish-speaking world (the practice of having the father's surname followed by the mother's surname, the two being connected by the particle "y", which means "and", such as Juan Agbayani y López). If the second surname starts with i, y, hi or hy, the particle becomes e, following Spanish rules of euphony, as in Eduardo Dato e Iradier. Sometimed this second rule is overlooked.

However, this practice changed when the Philippines became a United States colony in the early half of the 20th century. The order was reversed to follow the conventional American form "Christian name-Middle name-Surname," which in this case is actually "Christian name-Mother's surname-Father's surname" (Juan López Agbayani or simply Juan L. Agbayani). The conjunction y was dropped, although it is still used in certain contexts today (most notably in criminal records).

Currently, the middle name is usually, though not always, the mother's maiden name (followed by the last name which is the father's surname). This is the opposite of what is done in Spanish-speaking countries and is similar to the way surnames are done in Portugal and Brazil. The blending of American and Spanish naming customs results in the way Filipinos write their names today.

Furthermore, application forms for various Philippine government documents define the first name as the "Christian name(s)," the middle name as the "mother's maiden surname" (this becomes the basis for the middle initial), and the surname as the "father's surname."

Bearing the mother's maiden surname as a the middle name or middle initial is more important to a majority of Filipinos than to use one of the given names as a middle name or middle initial. Filipino culture usually allocates equal value to the lineage from both mother and father except in some prominent families who practice a strictly patriarchal system (usually of Spanish or Chinese heritage).

Exceptions apply in the case of children with single parents. Children born out of wedlock are registered under the mother's maiden name (if still unmarried), applying her middle name (maternal surname) and current surname (paternal surname) for the child's middle name and last name, respectively. The unmarried father must resort to legal and administrative procedures if he desires to acknowledge the child as his own and for the child to be registered with his own surname (in which case the child will use the mother's surname as his/her middle name).

Married and maiden names

When a woman marries, she may: use her maiden first name and surname and add her husband's surname; use her maiden first name and her husband's surname; or use her husband’s full name, but prefixing a word indicating that she is his wife, such as “Mrs.”^[11] She may also decline to adopt her husband's surname and continue to use her maiden name since there is no law in the Philippines which obligates a married woman to use the surname of her husband.^[12]

• When a woman whose full maiden name is Aveline Elizalde Bellerose (where her given name is "Aveline", mother's maiden surname is "Elizalde", and father's surname is "Bellerose"; this is normally shortened to "Aveline E. Bellerose" or "Aveline Bellerose") marries a man by the name of Alexander James Breckenridge, she may address herself and choose to be legally and/or nominally known either as Aveline Elizalde Bellerose - Breckenridge (shortened to "Aveline E. Bellerose - Breckenridge" or "Aveline Bellerose - Breckenridge"), Aveline Bellerose Breckenridge (shortened to "Aveline B. Breckenrdige" or "Aveline Breckenridge"), Mrs. Alexander James Breckenridge, or still as Aveline Elizalde Bellerose. However, once she has opted to use the surname of her husband, she shall continue using the same until her marriage with her husband is validly terminated, such as through annulment, subject to certain conditions.^[11][12]

• All children from this marriage will automatically have "Bellerose" as their middle name and "Breckenridge" as their last name, but they may have any number of first/given names as the parents wish (usually one to three).^[11]

• Their child, "Tristan Dashiell", will have a full name of Tristan Dashiell Bellerose Breckenridge shortened to Tristan Dashiell B. Breckenridge when using initials. "Tristan Dashiell B. Breckenridge" will be the preferred way of rendering the name. Depending on family or personal preference, the child may use either "Tristan" or "Dashiell" as his primary given name.

• If for space constraints, the aforementioned Tristan Dashiell B. Breckenridge cannot use this preferred way of writing his name, he would most likely choose to write his name as "Tristan B. Breckenridge" or "Tristan D. B. Breckenridge" (keeping the mother's maiden name) instead of just "Tristan D. Breckenridge " (the generally American or Commonwealth custom).

Until the middle of the 20th century, it was common for married Filipino women to insert the particle "de" ("of") between her maiden surname and husband's surname (as in Aveline Bellerose de Breckenridge or Aveline B. de Breckenridge), another common Spanish naming custom. However, this practice is no longer common.

Married Filipino women who are professionals may choose to hyphenate their surnames (such as "Aveline Bellerose - Breckenridge," instead of simply "Aveline Breckenridge" or "Aveline B. Breckenridge"), at least in professional use, and use it socially even if legal documents follow a different naming pattern. This practice allows others to identify them after their marriage and helps others keep track of their professional achievements; otherwise, her unmarried and married names would seem to refer to two different persons ("Aveline Elizalde Bellerose" as compared to "Aveline Bellerose Breckenridge").

Other naming patterns

Filipinos may have one or more official given names (as registered in their birth certificates and baptismal certificates) and various types of temporary or permanent nicknames. Filipinos have a penchant for giving themselves or each other various sorts of nicknames and monikers. Some nicknames are carried for life while others are used only with certain groups so a person can have multiple nicknames at different ages or among different groups of people.

Abbreviations, combinations, and elisions

Long given names can be shortened in various ways. Emmanuel can become Eman, Manuel, Manolo, Manny, or Manoy. Consolación has been converted to Connie, Cons, Sol, or Chona.

Filipino women with two given names such as María Cristina or María Victoria may choose to abbreviate the very common María (in honour of the Virgin Mary as Mª. (with a full stop), thus rendering these given names as Mª. Cristina or Mª. Victoria. Filipino males with two given names such as José Mariano or José Gerardo could follow the same practice of abbreviating Josés as Jo., but this is not as consistent. Some Muslims would follow conventions found in neighbouring Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, abbreviating "Muhammad" (and its variants, viz. "Mohammed", etc.) as "Muhd." or "Mohd."

Another common practise rarely seen in other cultures is to elide or combine multiple given names into one nickname. The aforementioned María Cristina and María Victoria may thus acquire the nicknames Maricris and Marivic. Thus the Filipino names Maricel, Maritoni, Marijo, Maritess, and Maricon come from Maria Celia (or Celeste), Marie Antoinette, María Josefa (or Josefina), María Teresa, and María Concepción (or Consolación). The popular male nicknames Joma, Jomar, and Jomari are derived from concatenating José Mariano. Jestoni was derived from Jesús Antonio. These types of nicknames have become so common that they have also been registered as a child's official given name by the parents (e.g., Maricris Llamador Gunigundo or Maricris Ll. Gunigundo). The child Sidperl got his name when his parents combined their given names Isidro and Perlita, while Lucifer was named for parents Lucy and Fernando.

Sometimes, this practice results in a completely new, unprecedented given name. Vice-President Jejomar Binay's given name is a combination of Jesus-Joseph-Mary. A former senator's first name was Heherson, derived from He-Her-Son (from "He, Her [Virgin Mary]'s Son", referring to Jesus Christ). The unique, patriotic female names Luzviminda and its variants Minvilu and Vizminda come from concatenating the names of the country's three main island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Some first names like Lodegrano or Lorimer may have been invented on the spot by the parents or derived from some partially remembered foreign term. Other coined first names have unusual spellings or spellings which are pronounced differently.

Honorifics and titles

Honorifics and titles are sometimes used in place of a person's actual name. Thus, the titles for family elders are often used by the younger persons and then adopted by the wider community: Apo and Lolo (grandfather) and Lola (grandmother) are used for senior elders; Tatay/Itay/Ama (father) or Tito/Tio/Tiong (uncle) and Nanay/Inay/Ina (mother) or Tita/Tia/Tiang for middle-aged elders; Manong or Kuya (elder brother) and Manang or Ate (elder sister) for anyone slightly older than the person speaking.

People in the community are often addressed by their military or police rank, professional titles or job descriptions, either with or without their names. Architect, Attorney, Engineer, Dok/Doctor, Direk/Director, Manager, Bisor (supervisor), Boss, Tsip/Chief, are used in the same way as Mister, Miss, Ms., or Mrs. especially when the addressee's name is not yet known by the speaker. This is often done as a sign of respect and in order to avoid giving offense. Even foreigners who work in the Philippines or naturalized Filipino citizens, including foreign spouses of Filipinos, who hold some of these titles and descriptions are addressed in the same way as their Filipino counterparts, although it may sound awkward or unnatural to some language purists who argue that the basic titles or either Sir and Ma'am/Madam are to be employed for simplicity.

Numerals and birth order patterns

People with the same name as their father are registered as Junior (abbreviated to Jr.) or numbered with Roman numerals (III, IV, V, etc.); their father adds Senior (Sr.) after his surname (i.e., Renato Reyes Ramos Sr. is the father of the brothers Renato Javier Ramos Jr. and Renato Javier Ramos III). Inevitably, the younger person tends to be nicknamed Junior or Jun permanently. One person's nickname became Third because his full name was Roberto Unson Ramos III (this is a fictional name for example purposes). Thus a family will necessarily bestow a variety of unofficial nicknames to distinguished the various people having with nearly identical official given names (e.g., Roberto Ramos Sr., Roberto Ramos Jr., Roberto Ramos III, Roberto Ramos IV, etc.).

The names of children in some families may follow a certain pattern, such as beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet, e.g. Diego Arnel, Diamond Amelia, Danford Arman, Dolores Allison, such that all their initials will be the same, i.e., DAZL if the middle name is Zulueta and the surname is Lim. One group of siblings was named after countries (Arabia, Australia, Aruba, Albania) while another was named after car trademarks (Ford, Mercedes, Bentley, Maserati). Other names seemed to have been taken from popular brand names, food, fruits, and flowers: Ramcar, Cherry Pie, Apple, Peachy, Pepsi, Brandy. World Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao named his two daughters Queen Elizabeth and Princess^[13] while his wife is named Jinky. Former Philippine Senator Joker Arroyo (legal name) has a brother named Jack.^[13]

Many nicknames are bestowed by parents or other elders on children while they are still toddlers. Examples are the numerous Boy, Toto/Totoy (young boy), Girlie, Nene (young girl), Baby and similar types of pet names given to people who received them as kids and carried them into adult life and seniority. They've carried the nickname all their lives and see no incongruity in being called Boy or Baby even when in their sixth decade. Some are diminutives of the actual name, such as Pepito for Pepe, Juanito for Juan (or the English form Johnny for John), and Nenita for Nena. Thus, a person used to being called Joselito (Little Joseph) as a child may retain the nickname as an adult even if he could already be called José or Joseph.

Reversals, indigenised names and Anglicisation

The Filipino given name Dranreb was invented by reversing the spelling of the English name Bernard, while someone calling himself Nosrac bears the legal name Carson. Joseph Ejército Estrada, Thirteenth President of the Philippines, began as a movie actor and received his nickname Erap as an adult; it comes from Pare spelled backwards (from Spanish compadre, fellow godparent) but now means mate or buddy in Filipino.^[13]

An old custom is to replace or insert Filipino phonemes into a Spanish or English name: Mariano becomes Nano, Edwin becomes Aweng, Eduardo becomes Dwarding, Roberto becomes Berting, Ponciano becomes either Popoy, Onse, or Syano. Sometimes there is a tendency to convert a grand-sounding given name into something very ordinary, such as when John Paul becomes JayPee, Peter John becomes Peejong, Anthony becomes Tonyo, Ronald becomes Onad, María Elena becomes Ineng or Inyang, or Ambrosia becomes Brosya.

Complementary to this is the practise of Anglicising (with the implication of "modernising") a Spanish given name. Thus José Roberto becomes Joseph Robert (further shortened to Joebert). Eduardo becomes Edward and then Eddie or Eddieboy (sometimes further shortened to Daboy). Consolación becomes Connie; Corazón becomes Cora or Cory; Juan becomes John or Johnny; Teresita or Teresa becomes Terê, Tessa, or Tessie; and Gracia becomes Grace.

Monikers and progressional names

The variety of Filipino names, some of them with negative connotations in Anglicised form, often take foreigners by surprise.^[13] Most Filipinos don't notice any negative English connotations, however, unless somebody points it out.^[13]

Many Filipino celebrities and high-status personalities, such as actors and politicians, don't mind having such types of nicknames;^[13] in fact, their nicknames are often more well-known than their actual given names. Film and television celebrity German Moreno doesn't mind using the nickname Kuya Germs (kuya = elder brother). National Artist of the Philippines for Fashion Design, José Pitoy Moreno, would never be recognized anywhere under his official given name, but so far, he is the only prominent Pitoy in the world.

The aforementioned Rafael Dominic C. Agbayani may receive an unofficial nickname such as Paeng, Domeng, Raffy, Nick, or Ranic that he could later change or keep for life.

Repetitions, h-insertion and letter substitution

Certain names like these have uncertain origin, or perhaps a purely native origin: Bang, Beng, Bing, Ding, Ging, Ting, Ming, Ping, Pepeng, Leng, Weng, Eng, Yengyeng, Bong, Dong, Pong, Tintin, Tingting, Tonton, Bingbing, Bingbong, Bongbong, Dingdong, Popong, Kiko, Kokoy, Kikay, Kitkit, Dada, Jaja, Jamjam, Jonjon, Jigjig, Jojo, Cheche, Chong, Choy, Doy, Loy, Ninoy, Noynoy, Nonong, Toying, Toyang, Yoyoy, Vicvic, Taktak, Bokbok, Micmac and many more.

Some Filipinos use creative spelling to further distinguish themselves, such as by adding the letter h or changing b to v to convert the commonplace Boy to the distinctive Vhoy. Thus creative spellings like Jhim, Bhess, or Jhun/Juhn. Filipinos with repetitive nicknames like Bingbing, Tintin, or Jamjam now also further shorten their nicknames by putting a numeral 2 after the first syllable, as if it had an exponent (Bingbing becomes Bing-squared): Bing2, Tin2, and Jam2.

See also

• Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos, book of surnames distributed by decree to Filipinos

References

External links

• Philippine Given Names A list of typically Philippine given names and hit-parades of the most popular names
• Catalog of Filipino Names by Hector Santos Filipino names still used even after the Clavería edict
• Popular names given to Filipino babies Traditional names given by parents today
• Playful Filipino names hard to get used to, Kate McGeown, BBC News, 27 March 2011.

Personal names in various cultures Albanian Akan American African-American Arabic Bangladeshi Basque Belarusian Bulgarian Burmese Cambodian Canadian Catalan Chinese Manchu Tibetan Croatian Czech Dutch English Eritrean/Ethiopian Fijian Filipino Finnish French Galician Georgian German Germanic Ghanaian Greek Cypriot Hawaiian Hebrew Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indian Saint Thomas Christian names Indonesian Balinese Chinese Javanese Irish Italian Japanese Amami Okinawan Jewish Korean Lao Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malaysian Mongol Pakistani Pashtun Persian Polish Portuguese Roman Romanian Russian Sakha Scottish Gaelic Serbian Sindhi Slavic Slovak Somali Spanish Hispanic America Swedish Taiwanese aboriginal Tamil Ancient Tamil country Tatar Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Welsh Yoruba Zimbabwean