The Filipino-Chinese Surname

Surname is an important part of one's personal identity. Through an individual's surname, one is able to identify the ancestors and the family clan to which a person belongs.

In Asia, Chinese immigrants (from China) from various Asian countries who have assimilated with other Asians have created a unique fusion of Malay-Intones-Chinese people. 

The Peranakans, Baba-Nyonya (Baba refers to men and Nyonya for women) they are of mixed blood, ancestry. They carry both the culture and tradition of Chinese and Malay. The Filipino-Chinese also has a unique identity like the Malay-Chinese and the Indonesian-Chinese.

                                 

Who are the Filipino-Chinese? When we say Filipino-Chinese it can either mean of Chinese descent; mixed blood, meaning of Chinese and Filipino descent, that is, the mother or the father is Chinese and of Chinese lineage. Chinese Mestizos, the father is a Chinese and the mother is a Filipina.

One way of identifying Filipinos of Chinese descent is through their surname. During the Spanish colonization our forefathers were forced to acquire and adopt a Spanish derived surname. Those who were of Chinese lineage often adopt the surname of their father.

Most Common Filipino-Chinese surnames are Ang, Co, Chan, Chua, Ho, Tan, and Sy etc. Another way is to combine the name of their Chinese parents and add the suffix "ko" at the end of each surname. The "ko" is a Hokkien polite word, signifying respect and it may also mean as "elder brother". Think of the Filipino word "kuya", it may have sprung out of this word as the Chinese are always fond of adding "ah" in everything. 

For example, the surname Gotiaoco by syllabication, Go-Tiao-Co we can surmise that the Go is the family name. Tiao is the parents name and of course the Co as a polite word, although in some cases it can also be a part of the parent's name. (Other examples: Co-Si-"Co", Go-Chang-Co, Co-To-Co, etc.) A Chinese name consists usually of three characters: The first is the family name - Tee or Ty, the second and third are the give name like - Han Kee. Thus, they joined the three characters together.

Lastly, not all Filipinos of Chinese descent use this system. Others, they've removed the Chinese portion of their surname and use the Spanish surname given in baptism. (For ex. Eugenio Ignacio Limcauco, may just be known as Eugenio Ignacio. A classic example is the late Carlos Palanca, founder of the La Tondena Empire, who adopted the surname of his Spanish ninong. Originally, his family name is Tan.

Other ways of recognizing Filipino-Chinese surnames, the use of "Son" and "Zon". (For ex. Bengzon, Tuason,) some claimed that the word "son or zon" is a derivative of the Chinese word "sun or soon" meaning grandchild.

 In the '60s and '70s, owing to the nationalization sentiment, many naturalized Chinese changed their surname thus after a few generations, the descendants have only a vague notion of their original family names. There are many mestizos during the same period, adopted their Filipino mother' surname and there were many marriages that were not formalized due to the stringent nationalization laws such as the retail trade nationalization law, etc. This group forms a substantial (maybe around 20%) of the Chinese Mestizos during that period. The irony of life, this trend is now reversed as a Chinese surname sounds better in the passport when traveling to or working in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. 

According to Dr. H. Otley Beyer, noted American anthropologist, the racial ancestry of Filipinos is as follows: Malay - 40%; Indonesian - 30%; Chinese - 10%, Indian (Hindu) - 5%, European & American - 3%, and Arab - 2%. Filipinos of today aren't really what you can call pure Filipinos in terms of racial ancestry.

Just like a famous saying, "Everyone will return to their roots." The Filipino-Chinese of today knows the significance of their roots. We can never really reach our destination if we don't look back from where we came from.

Note: I would like to thank Mr.Ricardo Liong (aka Uncle Dick) for the additional information that he gave regarding the Filipino-Chinese surname.

This article was published online in Tsinoy.com in their Roots section (sadly the website was dissolved). 

sources:  

The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine History - author: Edgar Wickberg

The Chinese in Philippine Life (1850-1898) - author: Edgar Wickberg

The Ethnic-Chinese as Filipinos (part II) - edited by Teresita Ang See

Philippine History book, local newspapers and the internet 

Images used: from Google Images