Nasugbu, Batangas - Name

Name

According to legend, a group of Spanish soldiers was allowed by their commander to go on a sightseeing tour of the friendlier villages on the western coast of Batangas. The group came upon a native couple cooking rice in a palayok (clay pot), the lid of which rattled over the steaming rice. In Spanish, the group leader asked the woman: "¿Cómo se llama este pueblo?" ("What is this place called?") The woman, who knew no Spanish, thought that the stranger was asking about her pot of rice. "Nasubo na po iyan, eh, kaya ganyan" ("The rice is boiling; that is why it is like that,") she replied. The Spaniard repeated the word "nasubo" and nodding his head towards his companions, introduced the word to them. The village henceforth began to be called by that name. Although no historical documents can support this legend, it is the most common story one hears when asking how the town got its name.

The word Nasugbu came from the southern dialect of Cebuano then mixed with the local old Tagalog which means "burnt". Thus, prefix "Na" means already in old tagalog plus "sugbu" in Cebuano means burn or on fire.