WHAT'S IN A NAME ? According to the South China Morning Post, a couple from China named their baby boy Saddam Deng Sars. The baby was born when the war in Iraq broke out; thus the first name SADDAM. Deng is the family name while SARS obviously came from the deadly virus that claims hundred of lives in several countries especially Asian. Whatever motivated this couple to name the baby after a man and a virus who and that were responsible for the deaths of many people is beyond me. During the trial of OJ, many of the babies born were named after his murdered wife. I cannot find in Psychology 101 a logical explanation why humans immortalize a name of a person who was a victim of injustice and violence. Call me biased but I think Filipinos are more creative by using different methods of naming the children shun the book of names of babies. I had a classmate whose name is Magtanggol D VIII. It sounds like a royalty, the VIII. They are eight boys in the family and every one is named Magtanggol. They are called by the number…One, Two, Three etc. The father wished that he could have a dozen. He must be thinking of forming his own contingent. Magtanggol is the Tagalog word for Defend. Theirs is a family of lawyers. Magtanggol, Magtanggol, LLP. Some families use the number only when it is the third generation like the grandfather is the senior; the son is the junior and the grandson is the Third.Most often, the father who is the junior would assume a pet name June or Jun, just like a friend, Jun2be which reads Junjun. It is interesting if this family has girls named April, May and sons July (Julio) and August (Augusto). They cover spring and summer in the calendar. The name January is also in the calendar ; a name of a martyred bishop who was born in September. Talking about calendar, my friend’s brother was born in Oct. 6. His name is Bruno. He was named after the Saint who founded the Cathusian Order. His parents named their siblings by consulting the calendar. I guess my friend’s brother did not like the name. Bruno is often associated with villains and ugly guys. Must be because of a character actor named Bruno. His pet name is BOY. My friend calls him Kuya Boy. He does not like this monicker either. Some parents get the names of their children from the bible. However they use the Tagalog equivalent of the name like Esteban for Stephen. Pet name is Steve when young and Teban when he starts growing a belly and the hair becoming bald. The old wannabe young wants to be called Tebs. Luke is Lukas, while Peter is Pedro;and Paul is Pablo. Who wanted to be named Hudas for Jude? Some couples want to memorialize their names. They name their children from a combination of their names or part of their names, like Loree from Loreta and Ray. Sometimes some letters are changed in order to make it sound nicer. The girl such named may hate her parents if they name her with LORAY.(translation please…) My friend’s maternal relatives were named with Tagalog words. His mother is Ligaya; his aunts were named Liwayway and Liwanag. ( I am not kidding). I just forget to ask him if he has an uncle named Lapu-lapu. The fans adopt the names of their favorites. I think I got nephews who are named Elvis, Ricky, Clint, Fernando, Joseph????I wonder why my brother did not name her daughter, VILMA. Hehehehe An old neighbor is named Cirilo. His mother’s favorite was Shirley Temple. He could have been named Shirley if he were a girl. Art is the most common name. Maybe from the name Arturo. The book lovers and the history buffs would always pick up the name of King Arthur. Art is a very common name that a friend wished he had his name changed when he became a C. He could have changed it to --The man whose former name is ART. I could not blame him. Wherever ytou go, you will see the name...ART MUSEUM, ART IN STONE, ART SCHOOL, EYE FOR an ART, ART and FRAMING, etc I wonder what ART4 MEV stands for.Heheheheh If you think, that the cat’s name is CATHY and I was named after St. Catherine, you are wrong.I was named after my grandmother. I did not like the name that when they brought me to school for enrollment, I refused to be registered not until my mom changed it to a more beautiful sounding. I thought it was just as easy as changing a hair style, clothes and boy fr(eeek). In the later years, I realized that it would take tons of papers to remove the legal entanglements that I could have opted to retain my name and just box one's ears who dare make fun of it. Do not ask my original name. When my brothers are mad at me, they call me by that name. Others say it sounds Italian….