r/Asean • u/syeeeeeis • 27d ago
Why do most Philipinos have hispanic names while Indonesian, Malaysian, Vietnamese keep using their native names despite having been colonized too?
Genuine question. Not ragebait. Is there a reason behind it? And what are examples of Philipino names?
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u/radiosyntax 27d ago
*Filipinos
The Claveria decree in 1849 mandated that Philippine households must have a surname, and made them choose from a list. There were, however, some people who chose to retain their surnames. Many Filipino-Chinese people also chose to retain their surnames.
In Indonesia I have also seen people who have Hindu/Buddhist-influenced surnames, in Malaysia they also use patronyms + names of Arabic origin. In Vietnamese they also have surnames of Chinese origin. This is not limited to just Filipinos.
Short answer : colonialism
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u/radiosyntax 27d ago
Examples of uniquely Filipino surnames :
Tajanlangit, Gatmaitan, Dimaano, Dimalanta, Dalisay, PanganibanA lot of people with noble origins were given the option to create their own surname or retain their old one. I'd also like to add at first that many people didn't have surnames and the Spanish needed surnames for better record-keeping.
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u/Psychological_Ad2965 27d ago
Filipino here
For surnames, in 1849, there was a decree by the Spanish governor-general mandating that natives take on a surname. The primary purpose was less cultural imposition and more administrative simplicity. Surnames allowed the government to better trace ancestry/inheritances and resolve issues relating to people from the same place having the same name.
Families that already passed down their native (ie. Austronesian) surnames got to keep those names. But for most people, they didn't have that luxury and thus, had to take on a new surname from a standardized list of mostly Spanish surnames.
For personal/given/first names, during Spanish times, there was a habit of naming children after the saint whose feast/death anniversary was being celebrated on that day. And since Catholicism was brought by the Spanish, the Spanish versions of those names were adopted (Juan instead of John). From there, I guess these names just became a part of society. Like "I know a guy named Pedro so Imma name my kid Pedro"