FIRST PERSON: The Pinoy name game 

Naming, as the saying goes, is the earliest act of creation. When we create something, we name it, making it distinguishable from others.

That’s why each time there is a new-born baby, one of the questions we immediately ask is little tot’s given name.  The act of naming is  important because these series of letters will have a huge impact on how our lives will eventually turn out.

Everyone has a story on how their names came to be. You were probably named after a flashy president’s wife, your mom’s telenovela actress, or after your dad’s favourite element in his high school chemistry class. Some have generic Pinoy names, while some have unusual ones; and others prefer their aliases like Mohaqber Iqbal.

My name doesn’t sound odd. In fact, JR is very common here in the country. It just looks odd on paper. It was the attending midwife who suggested the name “Jessie Jr.” to my parents. My father did not think it’s a good idea. So, they only gave me two letters instead of two first names they previously did with my siblings: Jasper Ian and Celeste Mae. 
 

In the Philippines, it is impossible not to have acquaintances named Mark, Joy, or Ann. We have a bunch of Michaels, Johns, John-Michaels; or Michael-Johns. We, Pinoys, also have this habit of repeating names for nicknames. One senator is called Bong while another is Bongbong. You probably rubbed elbows with a Mac-Mac, Jan-Jan, or Ling-Ling – just in case you did not hear the first syllable on the first try.

Our naming system has evolved. Gone are the days when we christen our kids with names like Ciriaco, Procopio, or Manuelito. Possessing these names now gives the name-bearer  first class tickets to Ancient Filipino history. 
 

More parents are getting creative in choosing their child’s name. As an example, I have a high school buddy named “Xyrilloid”. Yes, that’s X-Y-R-I-L-L-O-I-D. That’s probably worth a hundred points if it landed on “Triple Word Score” in Scrabble.

We also have delightful family names that go with our distinct first names. Our foremost pugilist, Manny Pacquiao’s last name is from the Filipino word, “pakyaw” which means wholesale. Indeed, he “wholesaled” most of the Mexican boxers. 

Some last names amazingly fit one’s profession. Take the recent bar exams passer, Christian Apollo Lawyer – he’s already a ‘Lawyer’ even before passing the licensure exam!

You see, our history is responsible for this: the Chinese, the Spanish, and the Americans all contributed to this smorgasbord of Filipino family names. And this can be traced in 1849, where the Spanish released theCatalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos.

During that period, Governor General Narciso Clavería, noticed that the early Filipinos do not possess last names. The one personal name became insufficient as an identifier for tax, and census purposes; thus the concept of the surname catalog for the Indios.

The Spanish Government then had drawn up a list of approved names from which our ancestors were told to choose. This explains why most of the Filipino surnames are borrowed from Spanish, from the calendar of saints, or from retained but Hispanized, pre-colonial names.

Our present system was adopted from the American “three-fold” pattern: given name, middle name, and surname or family name. And this current naming scheme gave our parents more leeway in choosing the kind of first name they felt like giving to their hapless offspring.

Having lived in the Lanao area, I also found out that the Maranao parents may opt to use the father’s first name to serve as his child’s last name. 

In the Iloilo province, on the other hand, an ingenious system was devised by the Spanish colonizers. You may recognize a person’s hometown by knowing the initial of his or her surname. If it starts with an “M”, as in Morales; he probably came from an “M-town” like Miagao. If your family name is Gomez, your lineage may be traced back to the town of Guimba. 

But whatever the system of naming is, one thing is constant: names are a great deal for Pinoys. And the same couldn’t be any truer for domestic politics. Name recall may get you more votes. That’s why our streets are full of tarpaulins of our dear politicians.

Our names establish our existence. Whether it has something to do with a kind of life we’re going to have, our name gives us character. Just think of the comedy gold of the “FEU surname wars,” or those ordinary people having celebrity namesakes at Humans of New York.
 

While some people may not be totally happy with their unusual names that they have it judicially changed, most people accept it. May it beTeofilo, Xenocrates, or JR, most of us simply choose to live with it.

And there will always be that moment when someone calls your name – no matter how cringe-worthy it may sound – that it becomes music to your ears. Just like in a song, the message is still more important than its title. 
 

*JR Lopez Gonzales blogs at the PoliTikalon Blog. He earned his law degree from Mindanao State University in 2014. You may follow him on twitter,@JRJRGon. His name, “JR” is not an abbreviation; it doesn’t stand for anything.