Did Your Family Adopt its Surname?

Did Your Family Adopt its Surname? Tips on Finding Out Whether Your Family Name is Original or Adopted

Many in the past always automatically assumed that having a Spanish-sounding family name meant that they had a Spanish ancestor. This is even quite prevalent today. However, time and again it has been proven than not all surnames are authentic Hispanic last names. In fact, as many now have realized, Claveria's 1849 surname decree has left many Filipino families with the illusion of having Hispanic roots, but in reality, their surname is merely a byproduct of the decree. Of course, while many families adopted or were assigned a family name, this does not automatically mean they could not have a Spanish ancestor somewhere up in their family. So, the safest rule of thumb is this: though not all families with Spanish-sounding last names have a Hispanic ancestor, this also does not mean that they do not have one or two in their family tree. As always, it is necessary to prove one's family's claim through research and documentation.

In this article, we look at several ways to see if one's surname was replaced or adopted because of the Claveria decree.

The Timeline: 1850 to 1860

Many people think that just because Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua promulgated the surname decree on November 21, 1849, people all over the colony began to officially use a family name immediately right after the decree was made. In reality, the decree was not automatically implemented. Typical of the bureaucracy at the time, Claveria’s successor, Antonio María Blanco, had to reinforce the decree and therefore there was a few months’ delay in its actual enactment. Thus, when trying to see if one’s surname is a product of the Claveria decree, one has to note that the actual implementation started around March to June 1850. The reason for the range and not a specific date is due to the difference in the immediate implementation of the decree throughout the archipelago. Some started as early as March while others dragged on with the usual practice until about June of 1850.

When researching one’s family name’s provenance, take note that there is a window of about ten years in most places where one can discern the origin of one’s last name. Focus only on the years 1850 until about 1860, as these are the years where one is most likely to confirm if one’s surname is a Claveria decree by product. There are some municipalities that have longer timeframes, but these unique places are usually the exemption rather than the rule.

Strategy 1: Look at the Notation on the Margins of Parochial Records

If one is lucky to have ancestors coming from towns where the parish priests followed the Claveria decree to the letter, then this first strategy is for you. Many do not know that number 7 in the Claveria decree specifically instructed the towns and parishes that a list of the inhabitants be prepared showing the following: their given name, followed by the family name they have adopted in accordance with the decree, and then followed by the “surname” the person has been using before the decree. The word surname is in quotation marks because not all inhabitants had surnames; in fact, many used a second Christian name after their baptismal name so there were many Maria Concepcions, Jose Franciscos, and so on in one place alone.

Number 19 of the decree further instructed the parish priests to write on the margins of the canonical records the same information as was indicated in number 7 of the decree. See below for a sample.

In this example of a baptismal record from Dingras, Ilocos Norte, from 1878, the name of the child (see upper righthand corner of the record), VITO, is followed by Resureccion, and then by Lazaro. This is just one of the examples of a clear proof of the adoption of a new surname because of the Claveria decree. “Resureccion” is the adopted, formalized last name, while “Lazaro” was the second name of the family of VITO before the decree. The towns in both Ilocos Norte and Sur, though not all but most, seemed to have followed the instructions in the decree faithfully. But, like most cases, Ilocos is an exemption. It would appear that Ilocos’s population was on the verge of making the use of surname official even before the Claveria decree. Around 80-90% of the families in Ilocos by the time of Claveria’s surname decree were already using their father’s second name as a sort of surname, and there was already documentation of many families that have started passing down their “surnames” to the next generation.

If you do not see such notations on the margin of the church records of your hometown, then the second strategy might work for you.

Strategy 2: Look in the body of Parochial Records

While not all parishes followed the decree to the letter, some did still manage to record the old surnames used by their parishioners prior to the decree. In limited instances, the priests noted the new and original surname of the people into the actual body of the record. See below for example.

In the burial record above from 1852, taken from the church archives of Liloan, Cebu, we see that the deceased’s parents, who would have been alive prior to Claveria’s decree, are listed with their original second name. In the first entry, the deceased’s father is Catalino Cuyos Josef, indicated that Cuyos is the new and adopted name while Josef was the pre-Claveria name. The same is true for the entry below, although this time the father’s old second name, Medrano, is actually also a surname. Thus, the Frasco family of Liloan, Cebu, known for Titay’s Rosquillos, who are descendants of the abovementioned Ysabelo Frasco Medrano, used to have Medrano as their second name until changing it to Frasco after Claveria.

Strategy 3: Other State Records

If the second strategy still does not yield anything, try poring through records at the Philippine National Archives, especially the ones with a list of inhabitants or local functionaries. See below for examples.

This first example is an 1852 record of the count of exempted individuals per barangay with the names of the cabezas de barangay listed. Thee are clear examples of families that changed their family names, such as Juan Flores del Rosario, Pedro Aguilar de Sta. Cruz, and Manuel Rabor Bonifacio, clearly indicating that Juan's, Pedro's, and Manuel's new surnames in compliance with Claveria's decree are Flores, Aguilar, and Rabor, respectively, replacing the old second names del Rosario, de Sta. Cruz, and Bonifacio, respectively.

However, there are also others like Santiago Castro, Felipe Quinones, and Romualdo Corro who appear with just one surname, perhaps an indication that they have retained their old surname.

In this second example from Argao, Cebu from 1855, still an inventory of exempted individuals from tribute due to age (reservados por edad) the exempted individuals are listed down. Almost all of the exempted individuals here, who are all above 60 and thus were born way before Claveria’s decree. In Argao’s case, however, only a few families practiced the use of a constant second name which acted more or less like a surname. In the above list, all the listed second names were simply that, a second name, and not a family name. But, this list, as the one above, proves that almost all families in town adopted a surname to comply with Claveria’s decree.

When All Else Fail....

Not everyone is lucky enough to have ancestors from towns with such able parish priests who followed the surname decree down to the last letter. So if none of the above techniques work for you, then you do have to do it the hard way. This will be my next topic in a future post.

Pacquiao's Surname and the Catalogo

As the nation, in fact the whole world, prepares for the most-awaited boxing match of the century, Filipinos all over the globe wait to see their champion, Manny Pacquiao, bring honor and glory to the nation.

As we do a countdown to this historic fight, allow the genealogist to also offer his small contribution to all this celebration.

The surname of Manny Pacquiao is one of the thousands taken from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos which accompanied Governor-General Claveria's decree of 1849.

As seen in above's photo, Manny's surname was originally spelled PAQUIAO (without the "c") in the Catalogo. The surname can be found on page 26 of the catalogo, first column, the 52nd surname in the column.

Genealogy Question #1: List of Surnames Distributed to a Town During the Claveria Decree

I received a query from a researcher today and I want to share it with the general public:

Good day ADMIN. Do you have a LIST of ORIGINAL family names in Cavite City or list of surnames distributed in Cavite city (San Roque, Cavite-Puerto, and Caridad , merged into one to create Cavite city in 1930) from the famous Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos of Governor-General Claveria?

My answer: Although Claveria's decree stipulated that:

1. A copy of the printed catalog of surnames, previously prepared for this purpose shall be remitted to all the heads of provinces of these islands.
2. These officials shall assign to every town, in accordance with the number of families therein, the number of surnames that appear necessary, taking care that the distribution be made by letters, in the appropriate proportions

we have no way of knowing exactly how the decree was carried out in each town. Some provincial governors simply chose pages arbitrarily from the Catalogo and sent these to random towns, while others were more strict in their assignment of the surnames.

 

I believe there might have been a list of surnames adopted in each town, but this list has not been found so far. In order to see what surnames were adopted/assigned in a particular town it would be best to do it from scratch: make a survey of names appearing in the town's church records from 1850 until about 1860-70. Those people with surnames listed as naturales de este pueblo are sure to be native to the town and thus their surname could be counted as one of those adopted/assigned in that town.

Ten Facts About the Catalogo

I never get tired from poring over my copy of the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. Maybe because every time I flip open this amazing compilation I find new ways to inform those who are interested in genealogy about things in the Catalogo. So here are some of the basic things one needs to know with regard to the Catalogo:

1. The Catalogo has 141 pages total.
2. There is approximately a total of 60,288 surnames in the  Catalogo.
3. Each page of the Catalogo is divided into 6 columns.
4. On a full page, there are 72 surnames per column, which means one full page has 432 surnames per page.
5. There are only 23 letters represented in the Catalogo; there is no I, K, W, and X. There are entries for the Spanish letter Ll.
6. The most numerous surnames begin with the letters C and B; C has 5,560 surnames while B has 5,362 surnames.
7. The letter with the least surnames are the letters Z and LL; Ll has 114 surnames while Z has 213.
8. In order, these are the number of surnames for each letter:

9. The first surname in the Catalogo is AACAIN, while the last surname is ZURRAR.
10. To get an idea of what type of surnames were included in the Catalogo, see below for the first surname that appeared for each letter. Note that first surname for letters T and V are not clear.

 

Spanish Text of Claveria's Renovacion de Apellidos

Below are scanned copies from the book Renovacion de Apellidos showing the original Spanish text of the Claveria decree.

Claveria's Surname Decree

The following texts are taken verbatim from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos as reproduced by the Philippine National Archives. I realized after 71 posts in this site that I had forgotten the one crucial entry, which was the content of Claveria's surname decree. So, here it is. Later on, when I am done, I will provide a link to the complete list of surnames from the Catalogo.

Governor-General Claveria's signature

“During my visit to the majority of the provinces of these islands, I observed that the natives in general lack individual surnames, which distinguished them by families. They arbitrarily adopt the names of saints and this practice has resulted in the existence of thousands of individuals having the same surname. Likewise, I saw the resultant confusion with regard to the administration of justice, government, finance, and public order, and the far-reaching moral, civil and religious consequences to which this might lead, because the family names are not transmitted from the parents to their children, so that it is sometimes impossible to prove the degrees of consanguinity for purpose of marriage, rendering useless the parochial books which in Catholic countries are used for all kinds of transactions. 

 "For this purpose, a catalogue of family names has been compiled, including the indigenous names collected by the Reverend Fathers Provincial of the religious orders, and the Spanish surnames they have been able to acquire, along with those furnished by the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. In view of the extreme usefulness and practicality of this measure, the time has come to issue a directive for the formation of a civil register, which may not only fulfill and ensure the said objectives, but may also serve as the basis for the statistics of the country, guarantee the collection of taxes, the regular performance of personal services, and the receipt of payment for exemptions. It likewise provides exact information of the movement of the population; thus avoiding unauthorized migrations, hiding taxpayers, and other abuses. 

Having heard the testimonies of the Most Reverend Bishops, the Reverend Provincials of the religious orders, and the Honorable Assessor General of the Government, I hereby order: 

1. A copy of the printed catalogue of surnames, previously prepared for this purpose shall be remitted to all the heads of provinces of these islands.
2. These officials shall assign to every town, in accordance with the number of families therein, the number of surnames that appear necessary, taking care that the distribution be made by letters, in the appropriate proportions. 
3. Having thus formed the catalogues corresponding to each town, the head of the province shall send these to the respective parish priests for distribution to the cabecerias (barangays); this distribution shall be carried out with the help of the gobernadorcillo, another municipal official, and two competent and respected principales. Each cabeza shall be present with the individuals of this cabeceria, and the father or oldest person of each family shall choose or be assigned one of the surnames in the list which he shall then adopt, together with his direct descendants.
4. Natives of Spanish, indigenous, or Chinese origin who already have a surname may retain it and pass it on to their descendant.
5. Children whose fathers are dead shall be given the surname of the paternal grandfather, and in the absence of this, the surnames of the brothers or relatives of their father, thus avoiding unnecessary multiplicity and ensuring that those of the same family branch shall have the same surname.
6. The children of unknown fathers shall be given the surname of the mother, and if this is also unknown, the surname of the guardian, or baptismal sponsor, or of the parish priest in case the sponsor does not allow it. 
7. In the lists that will be made for the cabecerias, in order to complete the register later, each person shall indicate (a) his baptismal name, followed by the new surname which may be assigned to him, and (b) the name which, until then may have served him as surname, leaving him free to retain this as long as he wishes.
8. To avoid confusion which might result to the prejudice of those who with their surnames inherited from His Majesty certain benefits, the names of Lacandola, Mojica, Tupas, and Raja Matanda shall not be adopted except by those who have a just title to possess them.
9. Families who can prove that they have kept for four generations their surname, even though it may be the name of a saint, but not those like de la Cruz, de los Santos, and some others which are so numerous that they would continue producing confusion, may pass them on to their descendants; the Reverend Fathers and the heads of provinces are advised to use their judgment in the implementation of this article.
10. Having notified the elders or parents of the new surname which corresponds to them and to the members of the family, that is, all those who because of their close relationship should bear the surname, each barangay shall be assigned two or three days for any objections which may be made before the parish priest; the latter will act on these objections in accordance with the provision of this superior decree.
11. School teachers shall have a register of all the children attending school, with their names and surnames, and shall see to it that they shall not address or know each other except by the surname listed in the register which should be that of the parents. In case of lack of enthusiasm in compliance with this order, the teachers shall be punished in proportion to the offense at the discretion of the head of the province.
12. The heads of families shall make known their new surnames to their children who may be absent, in addition to the notification that shall be furnished by the gobernadorcillo to the gobernadorcillo of the town in which the absent relative is residing. For this purpose, they will form official expedients or specific communications to this effect, signed by the gobernadorcillo and the respective cabezas with the approval of the parish priest. Likewise, they shall remit to the head of the province a list of the names of individuals in the service of the army to whom a surname has been assigned, so that the said provincial head may inform the branches of the army, and the surname which corresponds to each soldier may be recorded in his personnel file.
13. For record purposes, the gobernadorcillo of each town shall keep a list of the individuals who, by virtue of the preceding article, have been informed of the surnames which they are to use.
14. In towns where the residents were born in other places where their families reside, the gobernadorcillo, without prejudice to the provisions above, shall send a list of their names to the gobernadorcillos of the towns from which they had come, so that on the one hand, there may be no alteration or delay in transmitting the surnames which correspond to each one, and, on the other, there may be no unnecessary duplication. It adds to the confusion to assign a surname to individuals who should adopt that of the family from which they are descended, and no other.
15. The cabecerias in each town shall be numbered, starting from one and so forth; all classes of people in them shall be enrolled, natives as well as mestizos, no matter what their occupations may be, such circumstances being duly recorded.
16. Once the lists of the cabecerias are finalized and approved by the reverend parish priest, a register for each of them shall be prepared so that by assembling all of these, a general register for each town will result, signed by the gobernadorcillo and approved by the parish priest, following the customary practice for the annual inventories of the provinces; three copies thereof shall be prepared, one to serve as a master copy in the parish, another to be conserved by the head of the province in the archives, and the third to be sent to the Superior Government for inclusion in the expediente of this decree and for other uses as needed.
17. In order to obtain uniformity and to facilitate their completion, a sufficient number of registers, patterned on the attached model, shall be printed, to be paid for from the general discretionary funds of the province.
18. At baptisms, the parish priest shall demand a sheet of paper whereon, in addition to the name to be given to the one to be baptized, the names and surnames of his father and mother shall be written, except as prescribed in article 6. The same shall be done at marriages, in which case not only the names and surnames of the couple to be married, but also those of their parents, shall be entered.
19. In the margin of sacramental certificates as well as in all public manuscripts or documents that may be issued by either the provincial notaries or the town judges, the surnames of the interested parties to whom the documents refer shall be written in clear and legible writing; all such documents issued under names other than those which had been assigned to these parties, as certified by the master registers or their baptismal certificates, shall be null and void.
20. Neither the heads of provinces, nor parish priests, nor gobernadorcillos shall approve applications or documents in which the interested parties do not express their names and surnames; this rule shall be observed in the Capital [Manila], in municipal and provincial courts, by authorities, military chiefs of the navy, and treasury, and any other officials before whom the natives may appear or present themselves.
21. Any individual who, after being inscribed in the new register, changes his name or surname shall be punished in accordance with the malice and circumstances of the case. The penalty shall be no less than eight days in jail, redeemable by a three-peso fine, and this minimum penalty shall be imposed only in the case of least malice, that is, those caused by negligence or inattention.
22. The register having been prepared with the maximum accuracy in accordance with article 16, the heads of the provinces may easily submit such statistical reports as the Superior Government may require, and at the same time ensure uniformity and precision, and avoid frauds, besides establishing the number of those who should serve in communal public works, contribute to the communal funds, and pay taxes imposed by the law. The said register shall be prepared in accordance with the master copy, in which there are nine columns for those who pay tribute, those bound to perform communal labor, the name and surname of each of these together with those of the whole family, their ages, marital status, and occupation, the reason for exemptions from personal service and tribute, and a final column to be prepared each successive year, for recording any changes, increases or decreases in each cabeceria.
23. Items in the ninth column, pertaining to alterations of each register, shall be entered most accurately, for this is the only way by which the course of time it may become as perfect as possible, with the disappearance of inaccuracies which may occur at the beginning, especially with regard to the ages of the individuals. The cabezas de barangay therefore shall each month note all the variations that may have happened in their cabecerias, and shall submit these annotations on the first Sunday of every month to the gobernadorcillo and the parish priest for their examination and approval.
24. The heads of provinces shall exercise the utmost zeal and the full measure of their authority, both for the preparation of the registers with the requisite accuracy, and for the strict implementation of the previous article, by which the desired perfection may be obtained, and various significant advantages may be derived. It is understood that by the coming month of June [1850] the registers shall be completed and their submission to the Superior Government shall be accompanied by a report on the resultant increase in all the classes that compose the register."

For a complete list of the surnames listed in the Catalogo, see below.

[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [L]

[M] [N[ [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V]

[Y] [Z]

Source: Narciso Z. Claveria. Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos, reprinted by the Philippine Nationa Archives, 1960.

Claveria's Decree and Some Thoughts on Surnames of Nobility

I remember reading in Stephen Birmingham's America's Secret Aristocracy that Jackie Kennedy Onassis's grandfather released a genealogy of the Bouvier family which traced the family to various aristocratic and royal dynasties in France. Many of the Bouviers grew up believing that in their veins flowed the bluest of blood, only later to discover that Grandpa Bouvier's family history was based on pure imagination and wishful thinking.

This is the stuff that many undocumented genealogies start with. Many family histories always begin with "according to this family member and that family member..." and many members of families with purely oral histories grow up believing these tales. I have nothing against oral histories; in fact, in a previous post, I extolled the value of oral traditions and how they make documented genealogies more personal and complete. However, with the advent of modern technology and social networking sites I always am skeptical of some Filipino families' genealogies when they write about this and that history without the slightest documentation.

A portion of the original Claveria decree of 1849

While skimming through my copy of the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos I noticed some surnames which should not have been there to begin with. As seen in the photo above, section 8 clearly stipulated that the surnames Lacandola, Mojica, Tupas, and Raja Matanda should not be adopted as these names were held by families with certain privileges from the Spanish crown. 

This provision in the Renovacion has been the cornerstone of the belief of many "aristocratic" families in the Philippines that their families are descended from the early native nobility of the Philippines. Added to these are the last names of Macapagal, Salonga, Magat, Salamat, Magat Salamat, Dula, Gatdula, Gatchalien (or the present Gatchalian), Gatbonton, Gatpandan, Gatmaitan, Gatbanao, and so on. Indeed, it is the belief of many that these names or portions of these names in modern Filipino surnames are true indication of descent from ancient Filipino blue-bloods. The names Macapagal, Salonga, Magat Salamat (and their variables), Gatdula, and Dula (and its variables) were the last names carried by descendants of Lakandula (or Lacandola). Surnames such as Gatmaitan, anything with the prefix "Gat", was believed as a sign of descent from ancient nobility as this was a title borne by ancient Filipino nobility, which meant "prince" or "great lord". 

Unfortunately, carrying any one of these names isn't an immediate proof of being a descendant of Filipino nobility. For one thing, though clearly specified by Claveria that these names were not to be adopted, the surnames mentioned above can be found in the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. 

The surnames Lacandola, Mojica, and Tupas are found on pages 71, 87, and 132 of the Catalogo, respectively, while the others were:  Macapagal (page 79), Magat (page 80), Salamat and Salonga (page 115), Dula (page 41), and the "Gat" names all found in page 54 of the Catalogo. 

As such, having Dula or Gatdula or Macapagal as a last name does not mean these people's ancestors did not simply pluck these names from the Catalogo. Mere stories of descent cannot prove validity of the claim. Even former President Macapagal and his daughter's claim to be from the line of Lakandula is still to be verified. Because these surnames were included in the list, the only way for the bearer of these names to prove descent from these noble houses is to check the records from the National Archives which enumerate the descendants of Lakandula. Another great source are the church records, especially from Pampanga, as many of the records there have been preserved.

Of course, there is simply nothing wrong with people believing the things their elders had told them. In this day and age, who cares if your ancestor was a prince or pauper? However, in the context of making Filipino genealogy more professional, a semblance of validation is needed so that future genealogical works will be taken seriously.

Comments are very welcome.

The Catalogo and Funny Last Names, Part I

I realized that all my posts so far have been very serious, so today I deviate from my usual ramblings on the serious side of genealogy and explore a funny aspect of the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. If we recall, the Catalogo was a list of names compiled by Spanish officials which accompanied the Renovacion del Apellido decree of Governor-General Narciso Z. Claveria in 1849. This decree imposed on the native population of the Philippines to adopt a name based on the list provided. Supposedly, the list should have contained only the Spanish surnames they compiled from Spanish directories together with terms from the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. Also included, however, were common Spanish words as well as a sprinkling of native names and terms which undoubtedly tickled the Spanish compilers as they were alphabetizing the final list.

My mom and aunts are always full of stories of classmates with last names like "Malibangco", "Utot", and "Tubol", which are terms that definitely would make any person who speaks Cebuano roll with laughter. I went over the Catalogo in my possession and, lo and behold, these funny last names do exist! So, below are the first batch of randomly selected names listed in the Catalogo which  definitely made the families adopting them at that time the butt of their neighbors' jokes (many of which continue to be a source of people's ridicule today).

• BOGOC, found in the 4th column of page 19 of the catalogue. Bogoc is truly derogatory, which is a sort of superlative for "bogo", which means dumb, stupid, or slow.
• UNG-GOY, 2nd column of page 134. In itself it simply means "monkey". But in Philippine culture being called an "unggoy" is definitely not flattering.
• BOTBOT, 4th column of page 20. It means "lie", but means so much more compared to the tamer term "bakak". 
• CAHOBOAN, 4th column of page 24. It literally means "for undressing" or "can be undressed".
• UNGO, 2nd column of page 134. Meaning "monster".
• AGTA, 2nd column of page 3. Although it might have just referred to the indigenous people of the northern highlands, in Cebuano folklore the agtas were giant, very dark-skinned men who perched on large branches and smoke foul-smelling cigars.
• LIBANG, 3rd column of page 75. Although it means "relaxation" in Tagalog, in Cebuano it means "defecate".
• OTOT, 6th column of page 98. Means "fart".
• TUBUL, 1st column of page 132. "hard stool".
• BABOY, 2nd column of page 10. "Pig".

Imagine having the last name "Ung-goy", and this
is the image that appears in people's minds.

On their own, these surnames are harmless. A person with the last name of Cahoboan would probably go unscathed emotionally if he grew up in Luzon or outside the country. But the cruel fact is many of these names were adopted, or most likely imposed upon Cebuano families in 1849 which definitely made them targets of humiliation and derision. A simple scanning local newspapers would reveal many people with derogatory surnames petitioning the court to allow them to change their last names.