Happy Leah and Wally Jolly Have Made It: Names from the 2002 Licensure Examination for Dentists
Of those who completed the May 2002 Licensure Examination for Dentists, 682 passed.
Excluding the ten people whose sex I failed to determine from a quick search of social media or news articles, the passers included 532 women and 140 men.
The Women
Among the women, 347 (65.23%) had only one given name, 176 (33.08%) had two, and nine (1.69%) had three.
First Given Names
The most popular initials for the first given name are M (129, 24.25%), J (55, 10.34%), R (51, 9.59%), A (47, 8.83%), and C (40, 7.52%). No one had a first given name that started with U or X.
Table 1(a). Most popular first given names among women.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 29 | Maria |
| 20 | Ma. |
| 16 | Mary |
| 7 | Michelle |
| 5 | Anna, Catherine, Grace, Imelda, Jennifer, Marjorie |
| 4 | Alma, Irene, Josephine, Ruby, Ruth, Sharon |
| 3 | Abigail, Aileen, Cheryl, Frances, Gladys, Jacqueline, Katherine, Kathleen, Lourdes, Marianne, Maricel, Maureen, Mylene, Rhea, Venus |
| 2 | Alona, Ann, Annie, Bernadette, Carolyn, Celeste, Charlotte, Cherrie, Christine, Diana, Divina, Doris, Elaine, Eleonor, Esperanza, Fatima, Gemma, Geralyn, Gina, Haidee, Hazel, Irish, Jasmine, Jean, Joan, Joanne, Jonalyn, Joy, Julie, Leah, Lennie, Liza, Mari, Maricris, Marie, Marilyn, May, Mia, Raquel, Rochelle, Rosa, Rosemarie, Rowena, Sarah, Sheila, Shirley, Vanessa |
Table 1(b). Most popular first given names among women (combined spellings).
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 49 | Maria (Ma.) |
| 16 | Mary |
| 9 | Catherine (Katherine, Kathrine) |
| 7 | Michelle |
| 6 | Anna (Ana), Christine (Cristine, Kristine, Khristine), Jennifer (Jenifer) |
| 5 | Abigail (Ahbigail, Aveggail), Grace, Imelda, Marjorie, Sharon (Sharyn) |
| 4 | Alma, Cheryl (Cheryll), Irene, Joan (Joanne), Josephine, Kathleen (Kathlynne), Marianne (Marian), Marie (Mari), Ruby, Ruth |
| 3 | Aileen, Cherrie (Cherry), Frances, Gladys, Haidee (Haydee), Jacqueline, Leah (Lea), Lourdes, Maricel, Maureen, Melanie (Melani, Melanny), Mylene, Raquel (Racquel), Rhea, Sarah (Zarah), Sheila (Shiela), Venus |
| 2 | Alona, Ann, Annie, Bernadette, Carolyn, Celeste, Charlotte, Diana, Divina, Doris, Elaine, Eleonor, Esperanza, Evelyn (Evelyne), Fatima, Gemma, Geralyn, Gina, Hazel, Irish, Jasmine, Jonalyn, Joy, Julie, Lennie, Lindsay (Lyndsey), Liza, Louella (Louela), Maricris, Marilyn, May, Mia, Rhodora (Rodorah), Rochelle, Rosa, Rosemarie, Rowena, Sheryl (Sheryll), Shirley, Vanessa, Vivian (Vivien) |
Second Given Names
The most popular initials for the second given name are A (37, 20%), C (25, 13.51%), M (tied with C), J (17, 9.19%), R (15, 8.11%), and L (13, 7.03%). No one had a second given name that started with N, O, Q, T, W, or Y.
Table 2(a). Most popular second given names among women.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 15 | Ann |
| 10 | Marie |
| 8 | Rose |
| 7 | Anne |
| 6 | Grace |
| 5 | Joy |
| 4 | Christine, Jane, Liza, May |
| 3 | Cecilia*, Corazon*, Maria |
| 2 | Joyce, Leah, Luisa*, Mae, Rowena*, Socorro |
Table 2(b). Most popular second given names among women (combined spellings).
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 22 | Ann (Anne) |
| 15 | Marie |
| 8 | Rose |
| 6 | Grace, May (Mae) |
| 5 | Joy |
| 4 | Christine, Jane, Liza |
| 3 | Cecilia*, Corazon*, Maria |
| 2 | Catherine (Katherine), Christina (Cristina)*, Joyce, Leah, Luisa*, Rowena*, Socorro |
Third Given Names
The third given names in the sample are Ann, Concepcion, Dina, Irish, Lei, Linda, Lynn, Petchie, and Rizza.
Standouts
Some of the names that appeared only once in the sample are:
- Bighani (means "charm" or "attraction" in Tagalog)
- D9 (she should meet Z19)
- Glennicel
- Happy Leah
- Nestle, Wyeth
- Rise Mavoureen (the second name is one letter off from mavourneen, which means "my darling" in Irish)
The Men
Among the men, 101 (72.14%) had only one given name and 39 (27.86%) had two.
First Given Names
The most popular initials for the first given name are R (24, 17.14%), A (18, 12.86%), J (16, 11.43%), M (12, 8.57%) and E (9, 6.43%). No one had a first given name that started with T, U, X, or Y.
Table 3(a). Most popular first given names among men.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 3 | Anthony, James, Mark |
| 2 | Arnold, Benjamin, Cesar, Darwin, Erwin, Fernando, Francis, Homer, Jeffrey, Johnny, Joseph, Marlon, Marvin, Michael, Patrick, Reynante, Richard, Ricky, Ronald, Wendell |
Table 3(b). Most popular first given names among men (combined spellings).
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 3 | Anthony, James, Mark |
| 2 | Arnold, Benjamin, Cesar, Darwin, Erwin, Fernando, Francis, Homer, Jeffrey, Johnny, Joseph, Marlon, Marvin, Michael, Patrick, Raymond (Raemund), Reynante, Richard, Ricky, Rommel (Romel), Ronald, Wendell |
Second Given Names
The most popular initials for the second given name are J (7, 17.95%), followed by A (5, 12.82%) and R (tied with A). No one had a second given name that started with C, H, K, Q, T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z.
Table 4(a). Most popular second given names among men.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 3 | Anthony |
Table 4(b). Most popular second given names among men (combined spellings).
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 3 | Anthony |
| 2 | Gail (Gale), Paul (Pol) |
Standouts
Some of the names that appeared only once in the sample are:
- Audie (was he named after Audie Murphy?)
- Benneth
- Chelion
- Fidelis
- Heidelberg (a German city that houses a university; the latter was founded in 1385/1386)
- Jomerick
- Wally Jolly (he and Happy Leah should meet)
Numerical Suffixes
Twelve men (8.57%) had suffixes attached to their names. Of these, eleven (91.67%) were Jr, while one (8.33%) was II.
Reference
2002 May Exam by Dentist Board Exam Philippines (Blogspot)