Redd C.

Uy Sep 11, 2020

HIST 1 B2

The Meaning of My Name

Every year, there is a festival in my hometown Baguio called “Panagbenga” or the flower festival. My father was
working as a barista at a cafe at Session Road and there she met my mother as a customer. After about a year or two, they
had me and named me Redd Caslib Uy. I was born in Baguio City but ever since I was a baby, our family kept transferring
to other places such as Mindoro, Marinduque, Manila and etc. But even though the situation is like this, I have learned the
local dialect of my heritage such as Ilocano and Chinese to the point that I can understand but not really fluently speak it. I
was always curious about how my parents came up with Redd ever since I was a toddler as my classmates would often
poke fun at my name and use nicknames such as ‘pula’. So I asked, but it turns out that it seems to be that they just did it
on a whim and didn’t really think about it. I had my doubts about this one but I quite like my name as it’s short and easy to
remember so I didn’t bother forcing it out of them.

After a few years, I was probably in mid teenage years, I decided to nonchalantly research if there’s a definition to
my name. I wasn’t really expecting anything as ‘Redd’ is such an obscure name. But after a bit of digging the internet, I
found out that it could actually be defined as a verb with the meaning of ‘to set in order or to do things neatly’ which I think
rather suited me as I like to think that I do things in an orderly fashion. I have a bit of perfectionism in me and have
experienced OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Order) so I guess my name is not far off the mark from who I am. After I learned
of this, I’ve come to fully accept and love my name as it is, because this was given to me by my parents and it’s meaning
can define one of my characteristics as a person.

As for my surname, it is obviously of Chinese lineage as it is a pretty common Chinese surname in the Philippines.
My surname ‘Uy’ came from my father but he was born here in the Philippines. However, my grandfather is actually of pure
Chinese heritage who came from China that migrated here in the country. Our surname Uy means ‘yellow’ which in Chinese
culture, is the most beautiful and prestigious color as it was used by royalty such as emperors from the previous dynasties.
It can also mean freedom and actually generates Yin and Yang that implies the center of everything. With this, I am proud to
have my surname be ‘Uy”. A fun fact about my Chinese surname is that it could actually be read differently depending on
the dialect. China has a lot of different dialects used in their country and mine uses the ‘Hokkien’ dialect which is often used
here in the Philippines. But the most common dialect used internationally would be Mandarin, in this case, my surname
would be read as Huáng or 黄 in Chinese character. I could also use this as my surname but we chose the Hokkien version
as it was the most common here in the country.

That’s about it for the story of how my name came to be. I am very proud of the name my parents have given to me
and the surname they have passed down. Everyone has their own story of how they got their name and I think that they
should appreciate what they were given as I think every parents carefully consider what name their child should have. Our
names will be what identify us all throughout our lives. Furthermore, our surnames were given to us by our ancestors and it
is our duty to pass it down through future generations.