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 MarĂa 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.
