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What can you tell me about Filipino surnames? I hear there are other names involving chinese/spanish. Mabaet is my middle name for now, is that a real word? I would also like to know your family name :)
Feb 27, 2010 3:52 PM
Answers · 3
here are my country man esse! i agree with them.. regards from roi sula gavino cowboy...
March 1, 2010
I surely can agree to luciusverus' answer. as a matter of fact, nowadays, even first name are derived from foreign countries. Seldom you will hear a "real" Filipino names such as "Amihan", "Rosito", "Tala", "Balagtas", "Liwayway", etc... :)
February 28, 2010
Chinese and Spanish-origin surnames are the most common in the Philippines Because of Chinese immigration starting from the pre-discovery of the Philippines (for trading goods and doing business here) up to present, there have been a large population of Filipino-Chinese. Hence, we have chinese family names like "Chua", "Dy", "Sy", "Lee", "Lim" and "Tan" to name a few. As for the Spanish surnames, there was a time when we were still a colony of Spain, governor-general Claveria issued a decree that all Filipinos must adopt a surname (we only have first names back then). This was done to ease their census making in the country. (Yey, i still remember my history class!) They distributed a handbook containing Spanish surnames where families can choose their preferred surname. Some are "Santos", "Reyes", "Lopez", "Martinez", "Morales" , "Castillo", "Cruz" There are those who haven't chosen from the list, and instead used a Filipino surname like yours. Mabaet (Mabait) is a tagalog word for "good" or "kind". I have a Spanish surname.
February 28, 2010
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