Given Names, Aliases, and Monikers
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 have a penchant for giving themselves or each other various sorts of nicknames and monikers. Some nicknames are carried for life while others are used only with certain groups so a person can have multiple nicknames at different ages or among different groups of people.
Filipino women with two given names such as Maria Cristina or Maria Victoria may choose to abbreviate the very common Maria as Mª. (with a full stop), 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 Josés' as Jo. but this is not as consistent.
The variety of Filipino names, some of them with negative connotations in Anglicised form, often take foreigners by surprise (see Playful Filipino names hard to get used to by Kate McGeown, BBC News ). Most Filipinos don't notice any negative English connotations, however, unless somebody points it out.
Many Filipino celebrities and high-status personalities, such as actors and politicians, don't mind having such types of nicknames; in fact, their nicknames are often more well-known than their actual given names. Movie and TV celebrity German Moreno doesn't mind using the nickname Kuya Germs (kuya = elder brother). National Artist of the Philippines for Fashion Design, José Pitoy Moreno, would never be recognized anywhere under his official given name, but so far, he is the only prominent Pitoy in the world.
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 (i.e., Renato Reyes Ramos Sr. is the father of the brothers Renato Javier Ramos Jr. and Renato Javier Ramos III). Inevitably, the younger person tends to be nicknamed Junior or Jun permanently. One person's nickname became Third because his full name was Roberto Unson Ramos III (this is a fictional name for example purposes). Thus a family will necessarily bestow a variety of unofficial nicknames to distinguished the various people having with nearly identical official given names (e.g., Roberto Ramos Sr., Roberto Ramos Jr., Roberto Ramos III, Roberto Ramos IV, etc.).
The names of children in some families may follow a certain pattern, such as beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet, e.g. Diego Arnel, Diamond Amelia, Danford Arman, Dolores Allison, such that all their initials will be the same, i.e., DAZL if the middle name is Zulueta and the surname is Lim. One group of siblings was named after countries (Arabia, Australia, Aruba, Albania) while another was named after car trademarks (Ford, Mercedes, Bentley, Maserati). Other names seemed to have been taken from popular brand names, food, fruits, and flowers: Ramcar, Cherry Pie, Apple, Peachy, Pepsi, Brandy. World Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao named his two daughters Queen Elizabeth and Princess while his wife is named Jinky. Philippine Senator Joker Arroyo (his real given name) has a brother named Jack.
Many nicknames are bestowed by parents or other elders on children while they are still toddlers. Examples are the numerous Boy, Toto/Totoy (young boy), Girlie, Nene (young girl), Baby and similar types of pet names given to people who received them as kids and carried them into adult life and seniority. They've carried the nickname all their lives and see no incongruity in being called Boy or Baby even when in their sixth decade. Some are diminutives of the actual name, such as Pepito for Pepe, Juanito for Juan (or the English form Johnny for John), and Nenita for Nena. Thus, a person used to being called Joselito (Little Joseph) as a child may retain the nickname as an adult even if he could already be called Jose or Joseph.
The aforementioned Rafael Dominic C. Agbayani may be given an unofficial nickname such as Paeng, Domeng, Raffy, Nick, or Ranic that he could later change or keep for life.
A common Filipino practice (rarely seen in other cultures) is to further shorten or combine multiple given names into one nickname. The young ladies named Maria Cristina and Maria 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), Marie Antoinette, María Josefa (or Josefina), María Teresa, and María Concepción (or Consolación). The popular male nicknames Joma, Jomar, and Jomari are derived from concatenating José Mariano. Jestoni was derived from Jesús Antonio.
These types of nicknames have become so common that they have also been registered as a child's official given name by the parents (e.g., Maricris Llamador Gunigundo or Maricris Ll. Gunigundo).
Sometimes this practice is used to create a totally new official given name that never existed before. Vice-President Jejomar Binay's given name is a combination of Jesus-Joseph-Mary. A former senator's first name was Heherson, derived from He-Her-Son (referring to Jesus). The unique female names Luzviminda and Minvilu come from concatenating the name of the three main island groups Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The child Sidperl got his name when his parents combined their given names Isidro and Perlita. Someone was also named Lucifer by the parents because their given names were Lucy and Fernando. Some first names like Lodegrano or Lorimer may have been invented on the spot by the parents or be derived some partially remembered foreign word.
The Filipino given name Dranreb was invented by reversing the spelling of the English name Bernard. Don't be surprised when a Filipino calling himself Nosrac actually turns out be officially named Carson. Former President Joseph Ejército Estrada Jr. started his career as a movie actor and received his nickname Erap as an adult; it comes from Pare spelled backwards (from Spanish compadre for fellow godparent) but now means mate or buddy in Filipino.
Long given names can be shortened in various ways. Emmanuel can become Eman, Manuel, Manolo, Manny, or Manoy. Consolación has been converted to Connie, Cons, Sol, or Chona.
Another pattern is to Anglicize a Spanish given name. Thus José Roberto becomes Joseph Robert (shortened to Joebert). Eduardo becomes Edward and then Eddie or Eddieboy (sometimes further shortened to Daboy). Consolación becomes Connie; Corazon becomes Cora or Cory; Teresita or Teresa becomes Tere, Tessa, or Tessie; and Gracia becomes Grace.
A different pattern 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. Sometimes there is a tendency to convert a grand-sounding given name into something very ordinary, such as when John Paul becomes JayPee, Peter John becomes Peejong, Anthony becomes Tonyo, Ronald becomes Onad, María Elena becomes Ineng or Inyang, or Ambrosia becomes Brosya.
Certain names like these have uncertain origin, or perhaps a purely native origin: Bang, Beng, Bing, Ding, Ging, Ting, Ming, Ping, Pepeng, Leng, Weng, Eng, Yengyeng, Bong, Dong, Pong, Tintin, Tingting, Tonton, Bingbing, Bingbong, Bongbong, Dingdong, Popong, Kiko, Kokoy, Kikay, Kitkit, Dada, Jaja, Jamjam, Jonjon, Jigjig, Jojo, Cheche, Chong, Choy, Doy, Loy, Ninoy, Noynoy, Nonong, Toying, Toyang, Yoyoy, Vicvic, Taktak, Bokbok, Micmac and many more.
Some Filipinos use creative spelling to further distinguish themselves, such as by adding the letter h or changing b to v to convert the commonplace Boy to the distinctive Vhoy. Thus you'll see some creative spellings like Jhim, Bhess, or Jhun/Juhn. Filipinos with repetitive nicknames like Bingbing, Tintin, or Jamjam now also further shorten their nicknames by putting a numeral 2 after the first syllable, as if it had an exponent (Bingbing becomes Bing-squared): Bing2, Tin2, and Jam2.
Another Filipino practice is to use honorific titles in place of a person's actual name. Thus the titles for family elders are often used by the younger persons and then adopted by the wider community: Apo and Lolo (grandfather) and Lola (grandmother) are used for senior elders; Tatay/Itay/Ama (father) or Tito/Tio/Tiong (uncle) and Nanay/Inay/Ina (mother) or Tita/Tia/Tiang for middle-aged elders; Manong or Kuya (elder brother) and Manang or Ate (elder sister) for anyone slightly older than the person speaking.
People in the community are often addressed by their military or police rank, professional titles or job descriptions, either with or without their names. Attorney, Engineer, Dok/Doctor, Direk/Director, Manager, Bisor (supervisor), Boss, Tsip/Chief, are used in the same way as Mister, Miss, Ms., or Mrs. especially when the addressee's name is not yet known by the speaker. This is often done as a sign of respect and in order to avoid giving offense.
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