Nov 01 2007
A Lesson on Names, a Meme, and Nanowrimo
I don’t usually give excuses for being remiss at blogging duties such as bloghopping, answering memes, and of course, blogging, because… well, I usually don’t have a good excuse… unless you consider laziness a good excuse. I will make an exception for being late in doing this tag from Ipanema though, because I do have some good excuses. 
First, as someone whose duties include issuing passports, the rules of this meme, which refer to one’s middle name, sort of rattled me. Different countries have different rules for names. For example, I think that in Italy, they don’t have middle names the same way we Filipinos do. Let’s make the famous blogger Verns (with whom I have a one-year-non-lesbo-relationship) as my specimen sample. If Verns lives in Italy, her first name in her ID would read Verna Sheila Baloco with the Baloco pertaining to her mother’s maiden name, and her surname would read Obordo.
In the Philippines, the middle name would pertain to the maiden surname of one’s mother (for a single female or for a male, whether single or married) or one’s maiden surname (for a married female). Thus, Verns’ Philippine passport would be like this: first name: Verna Sheila; middle name: Baloco; surname: Obordo. However, if she meets Prince William and he falls head-over-heels in love with her and marries her in a fairytale wedding, her Philippine passport (if the British royalty lets her keep it) would be amended as follows: first name: Verna Sheila; middle name: Obordo; surname: Mountbatten-Windsor (the surname of Prince William).
It appears though that the rules of this meme pertain to the middle name as Americans use it, that is one’s second name. In Verns’ case, her middle name would then be Sheila. And this brings me to my second excuse.
If my middle name were actually my second name, then this would bring me to a conundrum because my first name is exactly the same as that of my three sisters, my Mom, and millions of other women in the Philippines. And what else would that name be other than…. Maria. Thus, when people ask me what my first name is, I answer the same way the millions of other Maria’s answer… not with my first name but with my second name… which sounds like a grandmother’s name… because it IS my grandmother’s name.
So children, that’s the lesson about names for today. On with the meme and these are the rules:
- You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
- Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. (Note: in this case, I will be using what we Filipinos refer to as my second name… which is actually what I refer to as my first name… heck… see the above confusing lesson).
- When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
- At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
For this tag, I’m listing the facts relevant to this madness that I’m getting into this November.
I have embarked on a great Adventure this month of November. I am Terrified to death because I don’t have a single bone of fiction in my body. But I am also Optimistic that I could write 50,000 words (even if it’s 50,000 words of pure rubbish) of the first draft of my first Novel ever. I am doing this Insanity because I have joined the Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). Now, excuse me for not tagging anyone because I am about to have an Anxiety Attack.
- Thinking Like Crazy
- Touching My Father’s Soul
- Onion-Skinned and Spineless
- Walong Sarisaring Bagay Tungkol Sa’Kin
- One Word Meme
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[...] Read more in Toe’s Kurokuroatbp. [...]
Oh wow….move over, JK Rowling!!!! All the best to the budding novelist!
I got confused by the middle names explanation. hehe. i always thought my middle name was my 2nd name (i.e. not my mom’s maiden name). but good luck with the novel! Go, Toe!
I would rather go through the Chinese-water torture, the tickle torture, and the watch-while-I-eat-this-chocolate-cake-in-front-of-you-and-you-can’t-have-any torture before I reveal my actual names.
I gave my baby girl three names with minimal syllables. Hope she’s grateful when she grows up!
Good luck on nanowrimo.
hehehe! Very clever
Don’t forget about us kung super famous writer ka na, promise? 
Thanks Gypsy!
I doubt about the J.K. Rowling though… so far, everything I’ve written is absolutely tacky. 
Thanks Wil!
That’s the western way of using the middle name… it’s usually the second name… like John D. Rockefeller where D. means Davidson. In the Philippines, it means either the mother’s maiden name or a female’s maiden name… like Corazon C. Aquino where C. stands for Cojuangco. 
Pinayhekmi, let me guess… Procopia? Consolacion? Hehe… our parents really had a way of torturing us. My real name sounds like a lola’s name. Oh… it is my Lola’s name.
Baby Mina would definitely appreciate it. 
momoftwo… no worries… I doubt if I’m going to be a famous writer.
ang galing mo naman ate! basta pag sikat ka na, wag makakalimot ha. at pa-aotugraph sa bibilhin ko na book.
may ginawa din ako ganitong meme. pero ang ginamit ko.. surname. kse magiging maiden name ko siya in the future. hehehe. so dapat pala marie ang ginamit ko
I think you should write about your family … your posts about them remind me of books written by nvm gonzalez and bienvenido santos. You have a way of bringing alive the bygone era (including old cars, old phamacy shops, cobbled walks in old manila).
Good luck in this exciting new project Toe.
Is ours still on?
I havent heard from Maldwyn. I am almost afraid to ask him.
We Pinoys adopt the Spanish system and honestly I believe it is much better because it is easier to track your family tree, where both your maternal and paternal surnames are included in your name.
Others like Arabs for example name their kids with the given name, father’s name grandfather’s name – i.e, Mohammad Ali Ahmad. Sometimes it can be the given name, father’s name and tribal family name.
Indonesians are known to give one singular name – no middle nor surname. Now that’s very easy indeed
What if you have a tukayo ? hehe.
The Thai boxer who fought Canadian super bantamweight champ Steve Molitor recently had a very interesting name – Fahsan 3K Battery. Now I don’t know where the surname came from but it looks like his father had a fetish for flashlights so he named his son for the power behind it LOL
Uy! Naayos na rin ni Job sa wakas yung problema mo. At ginamit mo pasi Verns as example, haha.
Anyways, good luck on the NONO WRIMO thing. 
Wow so you are joining nanowrimo. That is so nice and I wish you the best! Hey I love the new look here!
I’ve wondered before why Americans call their second names as their middle names…
Anyway, good luck on the NaNoWriMo thingie…I’ve thought of joining it but I don’t trust myself enough when it comes to the self-discipline involved
na alala ko tuloy si Fabiola Perez Rubiroza! “-)
wooF!
Tukayong Maria!!
May kwento ako about second name— I didn’t recognize ‘myself’ (or rather my name) when the nurse called me sa clinic.
Maria G_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!!!
Sino daw?
I’ve been Gina all my life kasi. Gina T _ _ _ _ _ _.
Thanks Tin-Tin. Naku, kelan kaya mangyayari ‘yon?
The term “middle name” is confusing because we have different rules for different countries. Pero tama ka… your surname is indeed your future middle name. So I wonder what your future surname would be?
Annamanila, thanks… well yes… one of the millions of projects cooking.
But for this month, I’m going to concentrate on the nanowrimo. I think our project should still be on… dapat lang mangulit. 
BW, that was very informative. It’s interesting how different peoples use names. I know that in Malaysia, a first name of a woman’s husband becomes her surname. Hahaha… 3K Battery is a weird surname… but not as weird as Cardinal Sin.
Snglguy, hahaha… it’s not nono wrimo… it’s nanowrimo.
Yes, Job is a savior… what a relief. I’m still trying to search for the perfect theme though. 
Thanks Chase. I sure hope I could win.
I’m still in-between themes… still trying to look for that perfect look for me. 
Cyberpunk, neither do I… but I dived into it anyway.
It’s just exciting to challenge myself. You should do it next year… we could be writing buddies. 
Bryan, ah… sorry di ko gets.
Gina, hahaha! I wonder what’s supposed to be in the blanks?
Yeah… our parents did torture us by giving us those long Lola names… then, they give us nicknames. 
It is so hilarious how you used Verns as an example to prove your point.
Good luck on the writing project, it seems pretty daunting but kaya mo yan!
Oops, sorry for the typo. Of course I know it’s nanowrimo. But u have to admit, mas nakakatawa ang nonowrimo, hahaha.
Uy! Nag-iba ang kulay! Mas maganda ito! Mas maliwanag! Yung isa kasi, well, kulay lumot! Hehehe, just kidding.
Iba-iba talaga ang naming systems sa buong mundo. Mahihilo ka talaga kung lagi mong pag-iisipan iyan. Subukan mo na lang ang naming system sa Iceland, ewan ko lang kung hindi matuliro.
Anyway, tungkol saan ang ating nobela?
re names. i have a hard time here in the US with middle names. i try to keep my mom’s maiden name in all my papers so as not to have a hard time later on, but some forms just don’t have room for two first names and a mother’s maiden name and a last name. like the driver’s license, which is what you present for identification.
reminds me of the russian naming convention–gaya ni maria sharapova, ang surname ng tatay nya ’sharapov’..
goodluck sa nobela!
whoaaa! maliwanag ang buhay dahil sa MERALCO! hahaha nice naman ng theme ng lola mo…ay lab et!!!
uhhmmmm parang masarap sa tenga yung Mountbatten-Windsor..parang bagay na bagay sa pangalan ko…whatdyathink? hehe
Actually when I did this meme..medyo nahilo din ako. But dahil sa “I am intellectual” I was able to figure it out (naks! actually ginaya ko lang yung ginawa ni Ipanema na second name nya ang ginamit pero di ko alam kung bakit).So yun pala ang estori behind…
pero actually like ko yung name mo Toe hrhrhrhr
Daphne, hehe… at least in my blog, Verns could get married to Prince William. Doing the nanowrimo is fun… I’m writing all crap but I’m enjoying myself. We should do it together next year.
Dito sa part ng mundo na kinalalagyan ko mas mahirap ang sistema ng mga pangalan. Ang haba nga eh. Kasi naman pati pangalan ng ninuno dapat kasali(using ibn; pronounced as ibin which means son of a b..). Kaya pag fill up mo ng form, ang dami names.
So, I guess for convenience and para mas shorter they used Abu Dude(father of hudas Dude).
And remember, pag daughter ka dito parang di ka counted kasi yon ang culture nila. Kaya lagi Son.
Snglguy, oo nga… kala ko sinasadya mo yung nono wrimo… natawa nga ako e.
LIW, namiss ko na nga yung lumot.
Actually, I wasn’t going to change my theme. But last Friday, my entire blog disappeared when I upgraded to wordpress. When my host put it back, nawala lahat ng themes and plug-ins so I had to install new ones. I’m really happy with this one though. 
My novel is really crappy… chick lit… pang-paperback na binebenta sa kalye.
Hi Duke!
Yeah… it’s quite confusing in the States because we’re always used to indicating our mothers’ names, and it’s the one that’s in our passports. Well, at least you’re not in Iceland…. LIW, above said it’s really confusing. 
SSSH, you’re right. And Marat’s Safin’s sister is Safina… iba-iba talaga.
Thanks Verns. Naku, mahabang kwento ‘tong theme na ‘to. I almost died during the weekend because my blog disappeared. Well, Snglguy and Job to the rescue.
Never mind Mountbatten-Windsor when you marry Prince William… think Your Highness or Your Royal Highness instead. 
Myepinoy, oh so that’s what Abu means. Quite complicated when everyone is called Abu?
Wow! I’ll look forward to that novel, goodluck and Godspeed
it’s alright that you are late. there is no expiry date to these tags, memes, etc. thanks for being a sport.
NanoWriMo is different from NaBoPloMo tama ba – when you post everyday?
Good luck!
Interesting Meme now. Uy, looking forward forward for that Novel of yours. I hope we get to read it. I’m sure you’ll need some fresh eyes and minds not exposed to your writing to read your stuff.
LOL – If you want to have an anxiety attack over NanoWriMo, you must get in line behind me
Middle names are so confusing in some other countries! This is one of the things I was researching while doing character development for my NanoWriMo story. The character is Hispanic and Hispanics have a lot of names. LOL. They usually have a first name, a second name, 2 surnames, at least one nickname/pet name, and a confirmation name. Craziness!
buti na lang hindi ako pinangalan after my lolas lalo na yung isa kasi ang haba eh hehehe. pero mas ok na siguro ang lola-ish name kesa ang pangalan mo ay crystal o dili kaya ay baby… pano na lang yan pag lola na? lola crystal, lola baby? di bagay nyahahaha
Dream ko noon pang bata ako na sana may Maria ang name ko to make it – Maria Rhodora.
But then, I’m nagsisisi why I did not give any middle or second name to my daughter – and no Maria either. Her name is Gemnaika – it is a coined name. Sayang, I should have at least added another name like – Gemnaika Marie, or Gemnaika Lee, Gemnaika Lou, Gemnaika Shari, Gemnaika Viktoria, Gemnaika Antonina or just plain Maria Gemnaika.
What made me not give her a second name though was that I was thinking of how hard it must be to practice writing a very long name when she started going to school.
I’m back ! In France they don’t use their middle names too. My husband’s name is Bernard Jean-Philippe GIRALDI pero whenever he writes a letter or when filling up a form he only uses his first name Bernard and the family name!
Pining, thanks. I just want to finish the 50,000 words… even if it’s quite unpublishable.
Ipanema, yes… nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month and the goal is to write 50,000 words of the first draft of your novel. It’s quite fun and you don’t have to publish in your blog. It’s just the word count that matters… to jump start creativity.
Ferdz, ewan ko pa… I’m too shy to expose it to anyone else’s eyes but mine.
Tee, good luck to the both of us for nanowrimo.
Yes, we got the craziness of our names from the Spanish… that’s exactly how Filipinos do names too… two or three names, confirmation name… and that all-important nickname.
Carlotta, hehe… meron ngang Lola Baby sa pamilya namin.
Rhodora, oh I like Gem’s name a lot. If I had a child, I’d only give him or her one name… it’s less confusing especially with birth certificates and other legal documents.
Haze, oh, that’s good because it’s much simpler to use just one name.
Toe, thanks for the info about names. Quite interesting really.
I also wish you the best in your novel writing. Ako, hanggang flash fiction lang. 1000-1500 words.
you are right, toe. i lost my surname when i married a kano but retained my maiden name. my father’s last name disppeared! i wonder if i could ammend but it might screw up all my important documents like passport, social security, etc. my husband said just leave the way it is and let my 4 brothers carry my father’s last name.
Lazarus, thanks for the good wishes. It’s my first time to try fiction.
Oh, it’s hard to do short fiction… your plot must be concise… my novel doesn’t have a plot at all. 
Do you post your fiction in your blog?
Belle, it would be complicated to amend your name and it would be easier just to leave it as it is.
Ayan… dinamayan na kita sa nanowrimo… bahala na si batman! I have written 95 words today – 49,905 na lang to go… hahahah!
Hi Maria Toe! Nice to see you back although I am quite late in commenting as well.
Goodluck in your great endeavor.
Penge ng signed copy ha pag na-publish na!
Who is A N T O N I N A?
Ces, let’s do it again next year ha.
Leah, haha… I wish… pero matagal pa ‘yon… I did the 50,000 words but it would be a long time before I finish the book.
Myepinoy, I was named after my lola.