Love names in Philippine history

This week on February 14 the Philippines, together with most of the world, celebrates Valentine’s Day, and just like the rest of the world many consider this day a special day for people in love. So, to get into the spirit of this day of love, let us look into how “love” and its many forms can be found even in Filipino names.

It has always been a tradition in the Roman Catholic Church, especially during the Spanish period, to name children after the saint on whose feast the child was born. Think of Andres Bonifacio, who was named after St. Andrew whose feast day is on November 30, or the many women named Mary, Marie, or Maria because their birth date is on September 8, considered to be the traditional birth date of the mother of Christ. I remember my mom telling me a story about how the Recollect priest who baptized me scoffed at my given name “Todd”, insisting that it was not found in the book of saints’ names. Had my mom allowed Fr. Paglinawan to insist on a Catholic saint’s name, I would have probably been named Juan or Jose or Felipe or any of the popular male saints’ names at that time!

So, it should then make sense that people named Valentino or Valentina in Philippine history were given such names because their birth fell on St. Valentine’s feast day. A random compilation of 1,000 baptismal and birth records of Valentinos and Valentinas from different places in the Philippines from 1762 until 1972 gives us the following information: 1.) That while the two names are obviously derived from St. Valentine, only 15 of the 1,000 were born and baptized on February 14; 2.) That females were almost thrice as often named after the saint than males; 3.) That more Valentinos and Valentinas were born in the 19th century than in the 18th or 20th; 4.) More Valentinos and Valentinas were born in the month of November, followed by February, May, December, and September; and 5.) Very few to no babies born in the months of January, June, or August were given the names related to St. Valentine.

Other than given names, we may also find surnames associated with Valentine’s Day in the country. It is interesting that while gugma (Cebuano for love) and pag-ibig/ibig (Tagalog for love) are both old and often used terminologies in the Philippines, they do not appear in the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos, the list of surnames and common everyday words that was distributed throughout the Philippines when the Claveria surname decree was implemented. So are the terms casingcasing/kasingkasing, puso, and asawa not listed as well. However, we do find the following Spanish terms for “love” or “to love”: Amar, Amado, Amaba, Amaran, Amas, Ame, and Amor. We also find novio, which means “boyfriend”, but not novia. The indigenous terms of bana (husband), capuso (with heart), casintahan/casintasinta/casintasintahan (sweetheart), mahalin (to love), and ybigybig are also listed in the catalogo.

There are also rather less wholesome terms that were also included in the catalogo, such as Megayuma, Mengagayuma, Magayuma, and Gibiga. And while root words “biga” and “gayuma” are not found in the list, they continue to be used as actual family names today, along with even more salacious surnames as iy*t, kay*t, and tal*k.

Very few people use these indigenous terms that relate to love and sex, but the fact that terms like these exist today even while not being listed in the catalogo indicate that they have always been used as a part of people’s identification in the past. These are just the little and interesting gems of information one can find when looking at our history. Perhaps more insights can be gained if a more comprehensive study on these surnames can be made in the future. Happy Hearts’ Day!