Filipino Surnames Relating to Faith, Biblical and Religious Characters

 

                     

Some Filipino families have surnames taken from words specially from Spanish that have religious or spiritual connotation especially in relation to Jesus Christ and His mother, the Virgin Mary. There are also other surnames that are taken from Biblical characters and those taken from the name of saints that are not in the Bible. Although these names are used mostly as given names, there are Filipino families who used them as surnames. Below is a list:

Angeles- angels, Apostol- apostle, Asuncion- the ascension of Jesus to heaven, Banal- a Tagalog word for holy, Bautista- baptized, Concepcion- the Immaculate Conception, Contemplacion- contemplation is the act of thinking on spiritual things, Consolacion- refers to the Lady of Consolation, Cruz/de la Cruz- cross, Cuaresma- lent, Custodio- guardian angel, Divinagracia-Divine grace, Encarnacion- the incarnation of God’s spirit in human body, Espirito- spirit, Evangelista- evangelist, Gino-o- Cebuano for god, Iglesia- church, Infante- the infant Jesus, Martir-martyr, Martirez- plural of martyr, Mesias- messiah, Monasterio- monastery, Monge- monk, Natividad- nativity which refers to the birth of Jesus Christ, Nazareno- Nazarene, Obispo- bishop, Oracion- prayer, Papa- pope, Paraiso- paradise, Pascua- easter, Pastor- shepherd, in English, a church leader, Purisima- the Virgin, Querubin- cherubim, a kind of angel, Resurreccion- Resurrection, Rosario/del Rosario- rosary, Sabado- sabbath, Salvacion- salvation, Salvador- savior or redeemer which is Jesus Christ. Santos/de los Santos- saints, Trinidad- trinity (the God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), Veneracion- veneration

Biblical characters from Old and New Testaments are also adopted by Filipino families as surnames. The names come mostly from the account of Jesus life and ministry. They are always used as given names, but they are used too as surnames. Most are in Spanish. Below is a list with their English equivalent. If there is no name translation, it means that the spelling in Spanish and English is the same.

Adan- Adam, Andres- Andrew, Alejandro- historically, Alexander the Great. He is also mentioned in the Catholic Bible in the Book of Maccabees, Baltazar- Balthazar, Bartolome- Bartholomew, Alejo- short for Alexander, Dario- Darius, David, de Jesus- of Jesus, Diego- variant of Santiago, Eleazar, Esteban- Stephen, Emmanuel- God with us, Felipe- Philip, Gabriel, Gaspar- Caspar, Isaac, Ismael- Ishmael, Israel, Jacob, Jaime- James, Jose- Joseph, Juan- John, Judith, Lazaro- Lazarus, Levi, Lucas- Luke, Manuel- short for Emmanuel, Marcos- Mark, Mateo- Matthew, Melchor- Melchior, Miguel- Michael, Pablo- Paul, Pedro- Peter, Rafael- Raphael, Samson, San Diego- Saint James, San Jose- Saint Joseph, San Juan- Saint John, San Miguel- Saint Michael, Santa Ana- Saint Anne, the mother of Saint Mary, Santa Maria- Saint Mary, Santiago- variant of Jaime, Simeon, Simon, Solomon, Tadeo- Thaddeus, Tobias, Tomas- Thomas, Zacarias- Zacharias

Below is list of other religious figures not in the Bible. They are mostly popes and patron saints in different places in the world.

Adriano- Adrian, Agustin- Augustine, Albano- Albans, Alberto- Albert, Antonio- Anthony, Antonino- Antoninus, Basilio- Basil, Benedicto- Benedict, Bernardo- Bernard, Bonifacio- Boniface, Casimiro- Casimir, Clemente-Clement, Cristobal- Christopher, Domingo- Dominic, Eugenio- Eugene, Eusebio- Eusibius, Felix, Francisco- Francis, Gregorio- Gregory, Guillermo- William, Ignacio- Ignatius, Jacinto- Jacinto, Javier- from St. Francis Xavier, Marcelino- Marcellinius, Martin, Mauricio- Maurice, Nicolas- Nicholas, Pascual- Paschal, Quirino- Quirinius, Roque- Roche, Sebastian, Silvestre- Sylvester, Sixto- Sixtus, Teodoro- Theodore, Vicente- Vincent

Related blogs that you may also like:

 Filipino Family Names

https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2013/08/filipino-family-names.html

Surnames Derived from Names of Places

http://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2025/09/filipino-surnames-derived-from-names-of.html

The Love of God, Our Greatest Gift on Christmas

Luke 2:8-14 says that when Jesus Christ was born an angel of Lord appeared before the shepherds who were watching over their flocks at night. They were at first terrified, but he assured them saying that he was bringing good news that will bring great joy to mankind. “Today, in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord,” he said. “This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” he added. Suddenly, a large army of good angels joined him and praised God. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests,” they said.                                                                                                                                              

Based on the account of Luke the birth of Christ is a reason of great joy to us according to an angel sent by God. Even a great company of the heavenly host joined the angel who had announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds to praise God on the great event that took place on that very momentous evening. If the good angels did that to please God, why should not we be joyful and celebrate the occasion of Christmas?                                                                                                                                     

The Old Testament is replete with prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah who is to be the savior of mankind. Christians believed that over 360 of those prophecies were fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Some of the significant prophesies that were fulfilled through him were: he was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, he would live a sinless life, he would be rejected by his own people, he would be called a King, he would be betrayed, he would be falsely accused, he would be hated without a cause, his hands and feet would be pierced, soldiers would gamble on his garment, his bones would not be broken and many others.                                                                                             

Christians viewed the birth of Jesus as fulfillment of God’s promise of sending a Messiah which he made through the Biblical prophets thousands of years before Christ was born. The act by the Heavenly Creator was a manifestation of his love to mankind despite their sinful ways. Because of his love God gave us a gift which the Apostle John wrote in his book in chapter 3, verse 16: “For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have an everlasting life.”

Some people would say that December, let alone December 25 is not the birthday of Jesus while other people would say that Christmas celebration is a form of paganism. However, based on available facts and evidences gathered by religious scholars the actual birth date of Jesus is difficult to ascertain. Some people would also argue that Christ never celebrated his birthday. But had Jesus told people not to celebrate his birthday? During the time of Jesus people probably could not celebrate their birthday as we do today because ancient calendar was not as accurate as the modern one that we know and use today.

Celebrating Christmas is a show of our gratitude to God for the opportunity he gave us to have spiritual salvation and to have everlasting life which we could attain through Jesus Christ. Without his birth there would have been no salvation for us. Indeed, Jesus Christ is our greatest gift from God on Christmas.

Related posts:

Parol, a Traditional Philippine Christmas Decoration https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2014/12/parol-traditional-philippine-christmas.html

The 13 Round Fruits and Other New Year’s Eve Customs in the Philippines https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-13-round-fruits-and-other-new-years.html

Can You Love Your Enemy?

Jesus said to his disciples, "You have heard that it was said, 'you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you maybe son of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans doing that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Mathew 5:43-48

It is contrary to our human nature to love our enemy. We hardly can. Jesus stood above other people of his time by preaching those verses when the practice was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". During his ministry Jesus preached gospel whose central message was the love of our fellowmen. Many people have different views of Jesus. Some regard Him as just an another charismatic religious leader and nothing divine. Others especially the Christians consider Him as the promised messiah of the Old Testament. Whatever he was, he is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures of all time in history. Christianity is the largest religion of the world with about 2.1 billion adherents. Loving your neighbor, and even loving your enemy as Jesus preached irregardless of your religious belief would probably make you a better person and our world a better and safer place to live.

Related articles:

Jesus Saved a Sinful Woman from Death
Psalm 22 Says That Jesus Is the Promised Messiah
Alexander the Great in Daniel's Prophecy