Grainoil and Shalimar are Lawyers Now: Names from the 1999 Bar Examinations
Of the 3,978 who completed the Philippine bar exams in 1999, only 660 (16.59%) passed. This is the lowest recorded passing rate in the history of the event.
Excluding the four people whose sex I failed to determine from a quick search of social media or news articles, 369 men and 287 women passed.
The Women
Among the women, 160 (55.75%) had only one given name, 118 (41.11%) had two, and nine (3.14%) had three.
First Given Names
The most popular initials for the first given name are M (79, 27.53%), J (32, 11.15%), A (29, 10.10%), L (22, 7.67%), and C (18, 6.27%). No one had a first given name that started with Q, U, or X.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 18 | Ma. |
| 11 | Maria |
| 7 | Mary |
| 4 | Anna, Karen |
| 3 | Amelia, Cecilia, Joyce, Marie |
| 2 | Abigail, Agnes, Aileen, Ana, Charlotte, Cherry, Cheryl, Christine, Divina, Ellen, Ethel, Fe, Grace, Janice, Jean, Jennifer, Josefina, Josephine, Joy, Juliet, Lyn, Maricar, Marilyn, Melody, Michelle, Nancy, Sheila, Stella, Virginia |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 29 | Ma. (Maria) |
| 7 | Mary |
| 6 | Anna (Ana) |
| 4 | Karen |
| 3 | Aileen (Ailin), Amelia, Cecilia, Christine (Kristine), Jean (Jeanne), Joyce, Liezel (Liezyl, Leizl), Marie, Myla (Maila, Mailah), Sheila (Shiela) |
| 2 | Abigail, Agnes, Aileen, Catherine (Catharine), Charlotte, Cherry, Cheryl, Divina, Ellen, Ethel, Fe, Grace, Janice, Jennifer, Joan (Joanne), Josefina, Josephine, Joy, Juliet, Lyn, Maricar, Marilyn, Melody, Michelle, Nancy, Stella, Virginia |
Second Given Names
The most popular initials for the second given name are M (20, 15.75%), C (16, 12.60%), L (16, 12.60%), A (12, 9.45%), G (9, 7.09%), and J (9, 7.09%). No one had a second given name that started with H, O, Q, W, X, or Y.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 12 | Marie |
| 5 | Mae |
| 4 | Ann, Grace, Jean, Lou |
| 3 | Lourdes, Theresa |
| 2 | Carmen, Concepcion, Paz, Victoria |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 12 | Marie |
| 6 | Mae (May) |
| 5 | Ann (Anne) |
| 4 | Grace, Jean, Lou, Theresa (Teresa) |
| 3 | Lourdes |
| 2 | Carmen, Concepcion, Joy (Joi), Paz, Victoria |
Third Given Names
The third given names in the sample are Adoracio, Alicia, Carmela, Joy, Lucille, Melanie, Ruby, Sheila, and Therese.
Standouts
| Name | Thoughts |
|---|---|
| Charlotte Fraulein | Does she become Charlotte Frau if she marries? |
| Dedicacion | Consider it if you want a Spanish virtue name aside from Fe, Esperanza, or Caridad. |
| Kristine Ninotschka | My first thought was the writer Ninotchka Rosca, but her first novel came out in 1988; the youngest of these bar passers would've been born in the early seventies. Another source could be the movie where Garbo laughs. |
| Maria Maruja | Maruja was a 60s comic that inspired three movies and a TV show. Behind the Name calls it a diminutive of Maria, so...cue Carlos Santana. |
| Myrish | Definitely not a Game of Thrones reference. |
| Patriflor | Patricia plus Flora? |
| Shalimar | Was she named after the garden (one of these three) or the perfume? |
The Men
Among the men, 272 (73.71%) had only one given name, 94 (25.47%) had two, and three (0.81%) had three.
First Given Names
The most popular initials for the first given name are R (61, 16.53%), J (58, 15.72%), E (36, 9.76%), A (33, 8.94%), and D (25, 6.78%). No one had a first given name that started with X or Y.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 9 | Jose |
| 6 | Emmanuel, Joseph |
| 5 | John |
| 4 | Dennis, Edwin, Gerardo, Jeffrey, Rodolfo |
| 3 | Carlos, Erwin, Gilbert, Jonathan, Juan, Noel, Rolando, Teodoro |
| 2 | Albert, Alex, Allan, Amelito, Arnold, Arvin, Charles, Christopher, Daniel, Dante, Dexter, Donald, Edgar, Eduardo, Emilio, Ernesto, Eugene, Ferdinand, Francis, Francisco, Franco, Frederick, Gregorio, Harold, Henry, Jaime, Jesse, Joel, Jude, Manuel, Michael, Orlando, Paul, Rafael, Raul, Renato, Rey, Robert, Rodrigo, Roel, Romeo, Ronald, Ruel, Sinforoso, Vicente |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 9 | Jose |
| 6 | Emmanuel, Joseph |
| 6 | John (Jon) |
| 4 | Dennis, Edwin, Erwin (Irwin), Gerardo, Jeffrey, Rodolfo, Roel (Ruel) |
| 3 | Allan (Alan), Carlos, Dexter (Dixter), Frederick (Frederic), Gilbert, Jonathan, Juan, Noel, Rolando, Teodoro |
| 2 | Albert, Alex, Amelito, Arnold, Arvin, Carlo (Karlo), Charles, Christopher, Daniel, Dante, Donald, Edgar, Eduardo, Emilio, Ernesto, Eugene, Ferdinand, Francis, Francisco, Franco, Gregorio, Harold, Henry, Jaime, Jesse, Joel, Jude, Manuel, Michael, Orlando, Paul, Rafael, Raul, Renato, Rey, Robert, Rodrigo, Romeo, Ronald, Sinforoso, Vicente, Winifredo (Wenifredo) |
Second Given Names
The most popular initials for the second given name are M (15, 15.46%), A (9, 9.28%), J (9, 9.28%), C (8, 8.25%), and L (8, 8.25%). No one had a second given name that started with K, O, Q, U, W, X, Y, or Z.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 5 | Michael |
| 3 | John, Luis |
| 2 | Anthony, Bautista, Claudio, Dennis, Frederick, Joseph, Lorenzo, Manuel, Maria, Noel |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 5 | Michael |
| 3 | John, Luis |
| 2 | Anthony, Bautista, Claudio, Dennis, Frederick, Joseph, Lorenzo, Manuel, Maria, Noel, Ray (Rhey) |
Third Given Names
The third given names in the sample are Hans, Maxelmo, and Rey.
Standouts
| Name | Thoughts |
|---|---|
| Charles Learned | He learned enough to pass the bar, all right. |
| El Cid | "Es leido, dadnos del vino..." |
| Grainoil | Is it really just the words "grain" and "oil" mashed together? Whatever the answer, he got the 10th highest score that year and made news in 2003 when he applied to be a basketball referee. |
| Juan Maria Hans | Juan and Hans are basically the same name in different languages. He and Maria Maruja should meet. |
| Macabinta | It shows up as a first name and a surname on Forebears. I don't know which usage came first, but in both cases, it's most common in the Philippines. |
| Querolico | I assumed it was derived from an ancient saint, but when I looked up "San Querolico" (if Spanish) or "Saint Querolicus" (if Roman), I only got a Saint Quiriacus and San Quirico d'Orcia in Tuscany. |
| Voltaire | He's not the only Voltaire to pass the Philippine bar, as future updates will prove. |
Numerical Suffixes
Sixty-four men (17.34%) had numerical suffixes attached to their names. Of these, 42 (65.63%) were Jr., seven (10.94%), were II, 13 (20.31%) were III, and two (3.13%) were IV.