The Origin Of My Name

“John Toni” is my first name. According to my parents, my name “John Toni” came from my
cousin named Avonne Shezarie Lamason Lim whom my Mother entrusted when she’s pregnant to find
biblical names for me. According to my mother my cousin searched some biblical names and one of the
names my cousin presented to my mother was “John”, when my mother asked my cousin what’s the
biblical meaning of “John” my cousin answered that according to what she had searched it is derived
from the Hebrew name  (Yochanan) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious". ". My mother seems to like the
name John, but she’s looking for something new because that time four of my relatives already had John
as there first name. My mother feels hesitant to name me “John” so she asked again my cousin to look
for names that are related to the word “praise”, and my cousin suggested that “Toni” was a good name
too, meaning “Praiseworthy”. My mother, until the day of her labor to me, remains undecided on what
should be my name. When the time she was asked what could be my name for my birth certificate, she
just combines the names my cousin suggested, and she named me “John Toni” meaning gracious and
praiseworthy.

My middle name is Lamason, it came from the surname of my grandfather on the mother side.
According to my Lolo “Lamason” was actually not his real surname, “Fainson” was the real surname of
his father. His mother decided to name him after hermaiden’s surname. It is because the parents of my
Lolo were separated and his mother was extremely angry with his father because it is very cruel,
drunkard, and immoral. According to my Lolo’s mother, she doesn't want to put the surname of my
Lolo's father because she was afraid that maybe my lolo will be like his father. When I asked my Lolo
where Lamason came from, he said that “Lamason” was just a local surname, a family of farmers and
vendors. And when I have searched the meaning of Lamason it is derived from the Old French word
machun, which meant "stone cutter." Accordingly, the original bearer of this name was a worker in
stone or mason. Lamasons were known for their hardworking, positive-minded, and kind personality.

My last name is Ortiz. According to my father, our family name was originally a Spanish
surname, when his Grandmother marries a Spanish soldier and the surname was Ortiz. The surname
Ortiz means "son of Orti". Patronymic from the given name "Orti", which seems to be disputed in
meaning, Latin fortis meaning "brave, strong", or Latin Fortunatus meaning "fortunate".. I asked my
Father if what could be family Ortiz known for, he said that based on generations he observed that
mostly the profession of the males was soldier, and I asked him why soldier he answered that because
our ancestors were famous generals here in the Philippines that’s why their father encorage them to go
to the military.

My full name is “John Toni Lamason Ortiz”. If I would combine all the meanings of each name, it
would be “Gracious praiseworthy, hardworking brave men”. And for me, it defines who I am. Just like
my name, I wanted to remain gracious, compassionate in everything I do, I wanted to praise Jesus Christ
with all my heart until the last day of my life, I wanted to put extra hard work in every goal I wanted to
achieve. And when I accomplish all these things the most important thing is I wanted to stay humble,
help someone else, and pull them to the top. I wanted to live my name I wanted to make some
difference.
 With the name John Toni Lamason Ortiz I have, the most common words that other people use
to describe are hardworking person, kind and generous to less fortunate people, family-oriented, God-
Fearing, notable person, faithful, friendly and jamming, soft-hearted, cute, and approachable person. I
agree with what they say about me because I used to be a hardworking person diligent in my studies
and that puts extra effort into completing my goals. I am kind and generous to less fortunate people
because I experience to have nothing, I am a family-oriented person I wanted to make my parents proud
of me and I wanted the best for my family. I am a god-fearing and faithful person, every time I wanted to
ask guidance from Jesus Christ to lead me the way what He truly prepared for me even I don’t know
what His plans for me but I keep on trusting Him. I am a friendly and approachable person, I always
respect people around me, I talk to them in a very sententious way and I respect all their ideas. I’m not
very sure with the cute definition but I take it as a compliment since we are all son of God we must be
cute because we are made in His likeness.

When I was a child I always play basketball tournament in our place. In our team, I used to be
the captain that leads my team, guiding them on what to do, and inspiring them to work hard. One time
we joined a tournament and my team have a good start in the tournament. I guided my team until we
manage to reach the championship. And then at the time of the championship, I failed to inform my
teammates to be ready because we have a game. On the day of the championship, I fell asleep not
knowing that the game was already started. I manage to be present in the game but when I arrived at
the event it was already third quarter, I saw my teammates playing desperately because we are behind
in the game, and in the end we lost the game. My teammates never talk to me again because they are
disappointed with me as the captain of the team. I cried all day with full of regrets, my Lolo comforted
me and he said “it’s okay to be the loser sometimes son, we are not always at the top of every game.
We are not define of our medals, it’s our defeat that makes us stronger and better.” My Lolo said that
defeats don’t define us being the loser, the true meaning of a winner’s heart accept failures and learn
from his mistakes, it’s the true heart of a champion. And from my Lolos advise I realized that I am the
captain of my life, just like a team captain reminding the team what to do, my role as a captain of my
own life is to decide what is the right thing to do, how to adjust in every circumstance in life, and to
make plans to achieve my goals. That’s the true essence of being a captain.