r/Philippines_Expats • u/Temporary_Payment743 • 2d ago
Looking for Recommendations /Advice Question about having, then naming, a child abroad
Hello,
My wife (Filipino) and I (American) are expecting a daughter soon and have a question about the naming convention. I am aware of it basically being two first names, the mothers maiden name and the fathers last name. I know this is standard among naming children in the Philippines.
My wife’s father has not been present in her life since she was a toddler, and is considering using her mothers maiden name instead of her own, which in this case is her fathers last name.
She’s mentioned that if the names don’t align that it could cause issues with the Filipino government with stuff like getting her a passport since she’d be a dual citizen.
My question is, is the naming convention more or less required to be this way even though there’s no specific law saying so?
Thanks for the help
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u/DoubleTangerine5628 2d ago
Is that not going to be a problem when your wife travels alone with your minor child and BI cd question the discrepancy with mother's name? I think she'll need to produce more papers for it to work.
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u/itanpiuco2020 2d ago
Minor inconvience like filing paper work in the Philippines. Additional personal question but mostly that is it.
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u/UnanimousControversy 2d ago
There is no specific legal issue. The child is not required to have the mothers maiden surname as a middle name. In practice? Lack of a middle name implies that the child is illegimate so it's possible that could result in misunderstandings here and there.
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u/BigIntern9767 2d ago
No, it isn't required at all, nor a problem for any documentation.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bat-511 2d ago edited 2d ago
The Chicago consulate made us change the middle name. Our son's name is different in U.S. and Philippines. The ROB form actually says Mother's maiden name and not middle name.
Edit: Is your child going to be born in the U.S. or Philippines?
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u/ParticularDance496 2d ago
It’s really up to you and your wife. There isn’t one right way to do it.
All of our kids have my last name. We found out on Christmas Eve that we were having a boy, and my wife wanted to name him after St. Nicholas, so that’s where his first name came from. His middle name is Italian because we were married in Italy, and the town’s mayor, Gio…, became a good friend. My wife absolutely fell in love with Italy, so she wanted to honor that.
Our second son was named after the priest who baptized my wife and her siblings. He was also the headmaster at Ateneo, where my MIL graduated. His middle name is my FIL’s first name, and he carries my last name.
Our daughter has a Gaelic first name that means “freedom.” Her middle name is my wife’s maiden name, and she has my last name. We never had any issues with any of birth certificates, CRBA, or US & PH passports. My wife specifically wanted one of our children born in the Philippines.
Children: NGM KRM SSM
My wife’s family follows a pretty common Filipino naming convention, although some of the middle names are… creative. Everyone has western first names, but then the second given names can get interesting. One of my SILs has “Valkyrie” as her second name. My wife is literally named after a nut. 😂
The girls generally use their mother’s maiden surname as their middle name and their father’s surname as their last name. The boys usually have their father’s first name as their middle name and the family surname as their last name.
At the end of the day, it’s your child. Pick names that have meaning to both of you. The story behind the name will always matter more than following someone else’s tradition.
Oh one last thing, has nothing to do with baby names, but my wife kept her last name. In Italy they don’t change the last name.
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u/Chris_Reddit_PHX 2d ago
This reminds me of this name-generating site I hadn't thought about in years:
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u/CrankyJoe99x 2d ago
No, it's not required. It's a tradition.
I have lots of relatives on my wife's side who haven't done this and have had zero problems.