Filipino and Filipina are Lawyers Now: Names from the 2003 Bar Examinations
Of the 5,349 who completed the Philippine bar exams in 2003, 1,108 (20.71%) passed.
Excluding the four people whose sex I failed to determine from a quick search of social media or news articles, the passers included 466 women and 638 men.
The Women
Among the women, 248 (53.22%) had only one given name, 202 (43.35%) had two, and 16 (3.43%) had three.
First Given Names
The most popular initials for the first given name are M (125, 26.82%), J (43, 9.23%), R (43, 9.23%), C (35, 7.51%), and A (34, 7.30%). No one had a first given name that started with U, W, X, or Y.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 37 | Maria |
| 19 | Ma. |
| 11 | Mary |
| 8 | Jennifer |
| 6 | Ana, Michelle |
| 5 | Kristine, Marion |
| 4 | Anna, Sheila |
| 3 | Aileen, Catherine, Marie, Marissa, Mildred, Myra, Olivia, Rosario, Rowena, Ruby |
| 2 | Angela, Celeste, Celia, Christine, Clarence, Dorothy, Eden, Elizabeth, Ellen, Esther, Fatima, Genevieve, Geraldine, Helen, Janice, Jasmin, Jocelyn, Josephine, Judith, Julie, Katherine, Lady, Lilibeth, Liza, Margarita, Marianne, Maureen, Melanie, Myla, Rochelle, Rosalie, Rhoda, Sarah, Sabrina, Sharon, Teresita |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 56 | Maria (Ma.) |
| 11 | Mary |
| 10 | Ana (Anna) |
| 8 | Jennifer |
| 7 | Kristine (Christine) |
| 6 | Michelle |
| 5 | Catherine (Katherine), Marion |
| 4 | Mildred (Mildrid), Sheila |
| 3 | Aileen, Esther (Ester), Janice (Janis), Marianne (Marian), Marie, Marissa, Melanie (Melani), Myla (Maila), Myra, Olivia, Rosario, Rowena, Ruby |
| 2 | Angela, Celeste, Celia, Charisse (Chariz), Clarence, Dorothy, Eden, Elizabeth, Ellen, Fatima, Genevieve, Geraldine, Helen, Jacqueline (Jaclyn), Jasmin, Jill (Jyl), Joan (Joanne), Jocelyn, Josephine, Judith, Julie, Lady, Licelle (Lycel), Lilibeth, Liza, Margarita, Maureen, Raquel (Racquel), Rocel (Rhoscel), Rochelle, Rosalie, Rhoda, Sarah, Sabrina, Sharon, Sheryll (Sherill), Susan (Susanne), Teresita |
Second Given Names
The most popular initials for the second given name are A (24, 11.01%), M (11.01%), G (22, 10.09%), L (19, 8.72%), and J (19, 8.72%). No one had a second given name that started with H, Q, U, or X.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 11 | Marie |
| 10 | Joy |
| 8 | Grace |
| 7 | Ann |
| 5 | Anne |
| 4 | Cecilia, Mae, Therese |
| 3 | Esther, Gay, Lynn, Regina |
| 2 | Andrea, Asuncion, Cristina, Elizabeth, Gemma, Luisa, Maria, May, Patricia, Paz, Teresita, Theresa, Victoria |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 12 | Ann (Anne), Marie (Marree) |
| 10 | Joy |
| 8 | Grace |
| 6 | Mae (May) |
| 4 | Cecilia, Cristina (Christina, Kristina), Esther (Ester), Lynn (Lyn), Therese |
| 3 | Gay, Regina, Theresa (Teresa) |
| 2 | Andrea, Asuncion, Elizabeth, Gemma, Lisette (Lizzette), Luisa, Maria, Patricia, Paz, Riza (Rizza), Teresita, Victoria |
Third Given Names
The third given names in the sample are Antonette, Christy, Corazon, Gemma, Janina, Kristine, Leah, Lovellyn, Monique, Roseluz, Socorro, Teresa (2x), Therese, Tweeny, and Victoria.
Standouts
| Name | Thoughts |
|---|---|
| Damcelle | May you be safe from all distress. |
| Filipina | No matter where she goes in the future, she will always be a Filipina. |
| Janis Ian | "I learned the truth at seventeen/That love was meant for beauty queens..." |
| Leavides | This is my first time seeing the name and I have questions. Is it three syllables (leh-ah-vides, rhymes with tides) or four (leh-ah-vee-des)? At first glance, I thought it might be after some ancient saint, but my search results disagree. |
| Myra-diwata | In local folklore, a diwata is a type of fairy or nature spirit. |
| Naruzen | I thought it looked vaguely Japanese when I saw it, so I checked out this site and found the following kanji meanings for na, ru, and zen. Though I don't know if her parents had that in mind, the Japanese writing system seems to lend itself to fun games with language. |
| Sta. Cecilia | Catholics have named their children after saints before, but this is the first time I've seen a person named "Saint [Something]" outside literature. |
The Men
Among the men, 465 (72.88%) had only one given name, 162 (25.39%) had two, and 11 (1.72%) had three.
First Given Names
The most popular initials for the first given name are R (105, 16.46%), J (97, 15.20%), A (79, 12.38%), E (44, 6.9%), and M (37, 5.80%). No one had a first given name that started with Q, X, or Y.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 18 | Jose |
| 9 | John, Michael |
| 8 | Emmanuel |
| 7 | Joseph |
| 6 | Allan, Arnel, Christopher, Noel, Rommel, Ronald |
| 5 | Benjamin, Ferdinand, Francisco |
| 4 | Adrian, Alexander, Alfredo, Carlos, Dennis, Erwin, Felix, Francis, Ian, Jaime, Joel, Jonathan, Kenneth, Manuel, Patrick, Renato, Rey, Richard, Rodolfo, Romeo, Salvador, Vincent |
| 3 | Anthony, Antonio, Edgardo, Enrique, Glenn, Henry, Philip, James, Jerome, Juan, Leo, Leonardo, Louie, Mark, Rolando, Romel |
| 2 | Albert, Alberto, Alexis, Alfred, Alvin, Alwin, Aris, Armando, Bernardino, Bryan, Carlo, Cesar, Clemente, Conrado, Crisanto, Daniel, Danny, Dante, David, Dexter, Dominique, Eduardo, Edward, Elmer, Ely, Federico, Franklin, Gabriel, George, Gerald, Jason, Jeffrey, Jeremy, Jorge, Karlo, Kim, Luis, Marvin, Neil, Norman, Oliver, Raul, Raymond, Raymund, Rex, Rodel, Roderick, Romulo, Ruben, Ryan, Stanley, Tristan, Vicente, Winston |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 18 | Jose |
| 10 | Rommel (Romel, Romell) |
| 9 | John, Michael |
| 8 | Emmanuel, Joseph (Josef) |
| 7 | Allan (Alan) |
| 6 | Arnel, Christopher, Noel, Ronald |
| 5 | Benjamin, Erwin (Irwin), Ferdinand, Francisco, Joel (Jowell), Rey (Ray) |
| 4 | Adrian, Alexander, Alfredo, Carlo (Karlo), Carlos, Dennis, Felix, Francis, Ian, Jaime, Jonathan, Kenneth, Louie (Luwie), Manuel, Patrick, Philip (Philipp), Raymond (Raymund), Renato, Richard, Rodolfo, Romeo, Salvador, Vincent |
| 3 | Alwin (Alwyn), Anthony, Antonio, Bryan (Brian), Dominic (Dominique), Edgardo, Enrique, Glenn, Henry, James, Jerome, Juan, Leo, Leonardo, Mark, Rolando, Tristan (Thristan) |
| 2 | Albert, Alberto, Alexis, Alfred, Alvin, Aris, Armando, Bernardino, Cesar, Clemente, Conrado, Crisanto, Daniel, Danny, Dante, David, Dexter, Eduardo, Edward, Eleazer (Eliezer), Elmer, Ely, Federico, Franklin, Gabriel, George, Gerald, Jason, Jeffrey, Jeremy, Jerry (Jeri), Jorge, Kim, Luis, Marvin, Neil, Norman, Oliver, Ramses (Rameses), Raul, Rex, Rodel, Roderick, Romulo, Ruben, Russell (Russel), Ryan, Stanley, Vicente, Winston |
Second Given Names
The most popular initials for the second given name are J (28, 16.18%), A (21, 12.14%), M (17, 9.83%), R (13, 7.51%), and P (12, 6.94%). No one had a second given name that started with Q, T, U, X, or Y.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 6 | Joseph |
| 5 | Anthony |
| 4 | John, Paul |
| 3 | Felix, Ian, James, Marco, Voltaire |
| 2 | Angelo, Carlo, Edward, Floro, Jacinto, Jose, Lester, Luis, Ma., Mark, Martin, Philip, Richard, Ronald |
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 6 | Joseph |
| 5 | Anthony |
| 4 | John, Paul |
| 3 | Felix, Ian, James, Ma. (Maria), Marco, Voltaire |
| 2 | Angelo, Carlo, Edward, Floro, Jacinto, Jose, Lester, Luis, Mark, Martin, Philip, Richard, Ronald |
Third Given Names
The third given names in the sample are Arsenio, Augusto, Conrad, Dante, Emmanuel, Ferdinand, Joseph, Paolo, Rosendo, Santiago, and Wendell.
Standouts
| Name | Thoughts |
|---|---|
| Cristifil | The son of Cristina and Filemon, perhaps? |
| Davinci | No one will doubt which Leonardo he's named after. |
| Filipino | He and Filipina should meet. |
| Helegarde | The name gives off a medieval-ish fantasy vibe, probably because of Hildegarde von Bingen. Then again, it could be the result of mixing Helen with Edgardo. |
| Manasseh | The first Manasseh in the Bible was one of two sons (the other one being Ephraim) of Joseph (the one with the amazing technicolor dreamcoat, not the husband of Mary). A few generations later, Manasseh and Ephraim were among the ten northern tribes of Israel that were overrun by the Assyrians and are now considered "lost." The other two tribes lasted longer as the southern Kingdom of Judah, which for 55 years was ruled by a different guy named Manasseh. According to the 2nd Book of Kings, he "did which was evil in the sight of the Lord" and "shed innocent blood very much," though as with everything else in the Bible, this is best undestood in context. |
| Rameses Victorius | Rameses II was an Egyptian pharaoh. In history, he is known for his military exploits and building projects, but popular media tends to link him to the pharaoh of the Exodus...who was famously not victorious over Moses or the plagues. |
| Vivaniño | His parents were either devoted to Señor Santo Niño, or just really enthusiastic about having a son. |
Numerical Suffixes
Eighty-three men (13.01%) had numerical suffixes attached to their names. Of these, 61 (73.49%) were Jr, 15 (18.07%) were III, and four (4.82%) were II. The suffixes Sr, IV, and VI had one (1.20%) bearer each.