Alphabetical Catalog of Surnames - Actual Application

Actual Application

The actual application of assigning surnames widely varied from town to town and from province to province. The provinces of Camarines (now Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur) and Tayabas (now Quezon Province) were known to enforce this rule strictly, while parts of Laguna simply ignored the decree.

In the town of Oas, Albay, for instance, many surnames there begin with the letter R such as Roa, Reburiano, Rabajante, and Relleve. On the island of Banton, Romblon, surnames that begin with the letter F are prevalent such as Fabic, Fabrero, Festin, Fadrilan, Fadriquela, Famatigan, Fabicon, Faigao, etc.

Also, in the town of Sta. Cruz, Zambales, many surnames begin with the letter M such as Morados, Mayo, Movilla, Mose, etc.

Surnames starting with Villa and Al are abundant in the town of Argao, Cebu. Some surnames are: Villaluz, Villaflor, Villamor, Villanueva, Villacruel, Villacruz, Albo, Alcain, Alcarez, Algones, Ableos, etc.

In Iloilo, surnames that start with the letter "T" are common in Tigbauan and Tubungan town; those that start with the letter "G" are common in Guimbal town; those that start with the letter "E" are common in Igbaras town; those that start with the letter "F", "M", and "N" are common in Miag-ao town; those that start with the letter "D" are common in Dumangas town; those that start with the letter "P" are common in Passi town; those that start with the letter "B" are common in Roxas City; those that start with the letter "C" are common in Calinog town, and so on and so forth.

Since there are potentially at most 61,000 surnames in the book, not all of the surnames were used.