According to the definition by Merriam Webster, “name” is a word or phrase that constitutes the

distinctive designation of a person or thing. Nonetheless is it really the name that makes a person

distinct or the person themselves that is attached to it? A name is as much a part of us as our own

skin it travels with us, testifying to our unique presence on this earth so much so that when

someone chooses to change their identity along with it is changing their names. Our names are

an amalgamation of our parents’ dreams, family, our culture, and our sense of self. Throughout

my life many adjectives were used to describe my name from beautiful to manly and I cannot

recall how many times the word “unique” was used as an adjective. We Filipinos can look at our

names and be taken back to history, when we look at our, or others names we can see the

Spanish and American colonization’s influence which has led to Filipino naming conventions.

Filipino names follow the Spanish tradition of using both paternal and maternal surnames, while

structuring names according to the Western name order. EMMANUELLE KATE I’ve been told

that it is quite funny to have a foreign sounding first name, only to be followed by a surname that

is distinctly Filipino (Magpayo btw) but little did they know that the very reason that I was

named Emmanuelle, because my parents are blatantly patriotic. I was born on the nineteenth of

August, the same day as Manuel L. Quezon, the 2nd president of the Philippines also called Ama

ng Wikang Pambansa so they named me after him, making me especially fond of the Buwan ng

Wika celebration as I see it as a celebration of our birthday along with his contribution to history

and our national language (not necessarily in that order of importance). As they can’t name me

Manuel my parents settled on the feminine French name Emmanuelle as it also means God is

with us, I don’t know if they actually knew from the start the biblical connotations of the name

or only found out later on. As for my second first name, Kate which is a nickname for Katherine,

my mother deemed that this name was that of a modern woman, being her lastborn child and
being noticeably smaller than the previous child she gave birth to she wanted my name to sound

strong. I find a sense of security and belongingness in my name, as it is proof of my parents love

for me, my shared history with my family and my identity as a Filipino.

Trivia about my first name it has an equal number of vowels to consonant. I’ve always detested

when people addressed me by a nickname. I know they have good intentions but, my name is too

good to be shortened, added to or completely changed (either Emmanuelle or Kate is fine) and I

don’t usually respond to anything else.