Filipino name: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Namingnone}} customs<!-- in"none" is preferred when the Philippines}}title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->

[[Filipinos]] have various [[naming convention|naming customs]]. They most commonly blend the older Spanish system and Anglo-American conventions, where there is a distinction between the "Christian name" and the "surname". The construct containing several middle names is common to all systems, but havingthe multiple [[First name|"first" names]] and only one [[Middle name|middle]] and [[last name]] isare a result of the blending of American and Spanish naming customs.

Today, Filipinos usually abide by the Spanish system of using both paternal and maternal surnames, with the latter (maternal) used as the "middle name". The [[Spanish naming customs#The particle "y" (and)|particle ''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 it is never counted as an individual's given name.

In ancient times, the Tagalogs had a naming system that changed via family dynamics. A Tagalog man (especially a chief) would lose his name, take his first -born's name, and become known as "son's/daughterchild's father"; rather than his offspring adopting his surname like today. If he was [[Baptismbaptism|baptized]] into [[Christianity]], he would take a [[Spain|Spanish]] "Christian name" but retain his native name as surname. For example, Calao's father became Don Luis Amanicalao (Lord Luis, a chief of Tondo, Calao's Father). This also applied to mothers (e.g., Inanicao) etc. One also gained numerous "poetic" titles (i.e., "pamagat"; lit. "to have something to go before", today literally translated as "title", from where the prenom "Gat" is derived) from his renown/actions (e.g. valiance in battle) or other naming means (like a naming feast for those without offspring).<ref name="Blair and Robertson Vol 40">{{cite book|last=Blair|first=Emma|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30253/30253-h/30253-h.htm|title=The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898 Vol. 40|publisher=Arthur H. Clark Company|year=1906|pages=57–58|access-date=April 26, 2020}}</ref>

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 commonly give themselves or each other nicknames and monikers. Some nicknames are carried for life, whileand others are used only with certain groups;. aA person can have multiple nicknames at different ages or among different groups of people.

Long given names can be shortened in various ways. ''Emmanuel'' can become ''Eman'', ''Manuel'', ''Manolo'', ''Manny'', or ''Manoy'';, and ''Consolación'' wouldcan be shortened 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 honor of the [[Virgin Mary]]) as ''Ma''. (with a [[full stop|period]]), 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 ''José'' as ''Jo.'', though this is not as consistent. Another common practice seen in other cultures (most commonly with [[Spanish name#María and José|Spanish conventions]]) is to [[elision|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)''), ''María Antonieta '' (or ''Antonia'')'', ''María Josefa'' (or ''Josefina)''), ''María Teresa'', and ''María Concepción'' (or either ''Consuelo'' or ''Consolación''), respectively.

Some first names like ''Lodegrano'' or ''Lorimer'' may have been invented on the spot by the parents, or be derived from some partially -remembered foreign term. Other coined first names have unusual spellings or [[spelling pronunciation|spellings whichthat are pronounced differently]].

People in the Filipino community are often addressed by their military or police rank, professional titles or job descriptions, either with or without their names (e.g., ''Architect'', ''Attorney'', ''Engineer'', ''Teacher'' etc.), instead of ''Mister'', ''Miss'', ''Ms.'', or ''Mrs.''., especially when the addressee's name is not yet known by the speaker. ThisThat applies to all people that are living and working in the Philippines. ''Sir'' and ''Madam/Ma'am'' are usually not used before a nickname.

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 or suffix. Inevitably, the younger person tends to be nicknamed ''Junior'', ''Jun'' or ''Junjun'' permanently. {{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} ThisThat can also be applied to numerals; i.e., the nickname can be ''Third'' or ''Fourth''. Because of thisTherefore, a family will necessarily bestowbestows a variety of unofficial nicknames to distinguish the various people with nearly identical official given names.

===Reversals, indigenized names, and anglicization===

The Filipino given name ''Dranreb'' was invented by reversing the spelling of the English name ''Bernard'', whileand someone calling himself ''Nosrac'' bears the legal name ''Carson''. [[Joseph Estrada|Joseph Ejército Estrada]], the [[List of presidents of the Philippines|13th]] [[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'', which means "fellow godparent").<ref name=McGeown/>

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'', and ''Ricardo'' becomes ''Karding''. Sometimes there is a tendency to convert a grandiose given name into something more mundane, such as when ''John Paul'' becomes ''JayPee'', ''Peter John'' becomes ''Peejong'', ''Anthony'' becomes ''Tonyo'' and ''María Elena'' becomes ''Ineng'' or ''Inyang''. Complementary to this is the practise of anglicizing (with the implication of "modernising") a Spanish given name. Thus, ''José Roberto'' becomes ''Joseph Robert'' (further shortened to ''Joebert'') and ''Eduardo'' becomes ''Edward'' and then ''Eddy'' or ''Eddie Boy'' (sometimes further shortened to ''Daboy'').

The variety of Filipino names, some of themwhich have with negative connotations in the English language, often take English speakers by surprise.<ref name=McGeown>{{cite web |author=Kate McGeown |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9435751.stm |title=Playful Filipino Names Hard to Get Used To |work=[[BBC News]] |date=March 27, 2011 |access-date=January 1, 2014}}</ref> However, most Filipinos usually don'tdo not notice these negative connotations unless they are pointed out.<ref name=McGeown/>

Many Filipino celebrities and high-status personalities, such as actors and politicians, are often more well known by their nicknames than their actual given names.<ref name=McGeown/> One example of this is film and television celebrity [[German Moreno]], who is more known by the nickname ''Kuya Germs'' (''kuya'' = elder brother).

Though most Filipinos adopted Spanish surnames, some preserved surnames that derive from words in indigenous languages, like Tagalog, Visayan (Cebuano and Hiligaynon), Ilocano, Kapampangan, and Pangasinan. Many indigenous surnames derive from words displaying qualities of people, especially those related to strength (e.g., Tagalog ''Macaraeg'' and ''Panganiban''), defiance (e.g. Tagalog ''Dimayuga''), or settlement (e.g. Cebuano/Hiligaynon ''Magbanua'').

Unlike their lowlander counterparts, [[Igorot people|Igorots]] living in the [[Cordillera Central (Luzon)|Cordillera Central]] in northern [[Luzon]] were not conquered by the Spaniards and preserved 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. Only the Igorots who have had interacted with Spaniards and lowlanders for trade were given a name that follows the binomial "first name"-"surname" system, such as Mateo Cariño and Mateo Carantes.

[[Category:Names by culturecountry]]

[[Category:PhilippineCulture cultureof the Philippines]]