Names are more fun in the Philippines
On October 14, 2022, the PRC released the results of the Electronics Engineer (ECE) Licensure Examination. Out of 2,644 examinees, 785 (26.69%) passed.
Aside from the seven people whose sex I could not determine through a quick Facebook search (ex. no profile with the given name, no profile picture, no mentions in other posts), 252 women and 526 men passed the exam.
Among the women, 79 (31.35%) had only one given name, while 168 (66.67%) had two and five (1.98%) had three.
The most popular initials for the first given name were J (37, 14.68%) and A (37, 14.68%), followed by M (34, 13.49%), K (27, 10.71%), and C (20, 7.94%). These letters begin 61.5% of all first given names. No one had a first given name that started with O, U, W, X, or Y.
Without taking combined spellings into account, Mary is the most popular first given name, followed by Diana and Maria. These three names account for 5.16% of the sample.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 5 | Mary |
| 4 | Diana, Maria |
| 3 | Christine, Kristine, Ma., Ruth |
| 2 | Alyssa, Ana, Andrea, Angela, Ann, Hannah, Jasmine, Karla, Kathleen, Katrina, Kimberly, Nicole, Rochelle, Samantha, Shaira, Sophia |
When spellings are combined, Maria is the most popular, followed by Christine; Mary slips into third place. Added up, they cover 7.14% of the sample.
| Bearers | Name (Alternate Spellings) |
|---|---|
| 7 | Maria (Ma.) |
| 6 | Christine (Kristine) |
| 5 | Mary |
| 4 | Diana, Kathleen (Cathleen, Kathlyn) |
| 3 | Alyssa (Allyssa), Ana (Anna), Andrea (Andreya), Ann (Anne), Jasmine (Jasmin), Joanna (Joana, Jhoana), Katherine (Catherine, Kathrine), Marianne (Marian, Marrianne), Rochelle (Rochel), Ruth, Samantha (Zmantha), Shaira (Shayra) |
| 2 | Angela, Denise (Denice), Hannah, Hazel (Hazelle), Karen (Karren), Karla, Katrina, Kimberly, Nicole, Sophia, Tricia (Trisha) |
The most popular initials for the second given name were M (36, 21.43%), A (28, 16.67%), J (14.29%), E (11, 6.55%), and L (11, 6.55%).
Mae is the most popular of the second given names, followed by Anne and Marie; these three add up to 20.24% of those who had more than one given name.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 14 | Mae |
| 11 | Anne |
| 9 | Marie |
| 8 | Joy |
| 5 | Nicole |
| 4 | Ann, Grace, Jane, Joyce |
| 3 | Ruth, Ysabel |
| 2 | Dianne, Erika, Faith, Kate, Lorraine, Rose |
The same three names are the most popular even after combining spellings, with the percentage rising to 23.81%.
| Bearers | Name (Alternate Spellings) |
|---|---|
| 16 | Mae (May, Maye) |
| 15 | Anne (Ann) |
| 9 | Marie |
| 8 | Joy |
| 5 | Nicole |
| 4 | Grace, Jane, Joyce |
| 3 | Erika (Erica), Lorraine (Loraine), Ruth, Ysabel |
| 2 | Abigail (Abegail), Andrea (Andreia), Belle (Bel), Dianne, Faith, Frances (Francis), Mariel (Mariell), Maris (Mariz), Rose |
The third given names in the sample are Xenia, Lois, Heidi, Cedel, and Kate.
| Name | My Thoughts |
|---|---|
| Basille Marie | I'm guessing there's a family member named Basil or Basilio. Forebears brought up Basilia and Basilisa; the latter brings to mind Vasilissa from the Russian fairytale. The Greeks have Vasiliki. But Basille is rarer and leans male...except in the Philippines, if the data is correct. |
| Chaka | "Through the fire! Through the limit!" Seriously though, I like the song. |
| Dietelinda | My first thought was a combination of Dieter and Linda, but Wiktionary pulled up Dietlinde, an old High German name derived from thiot ("people") and lind ("soft, tender.") There's a fair number of such names that were adopted (and adapted) by the Spanish. |
| Illyvem | "I love you, Vem?" I used to be friends with a Vem but we lost contact - Jesus, now I miss her. Or is it derived from the number eleven? |
| Kwynett | Is it pronounced /KWAI-net/ or /kwi-NET/? If I had to guess, it's Gwyneth but spelled differently. |
| Sundee Aniver | Born on a Sunday? On her parents' anniversary? Or is it an alternate spelling of Sandy and a combination of...Anita and Vernon? Annie and Veronica? |
| Zmantha | Sounds futuristic, like something out of a dystopian sci-fi novel. |
Among the men, 148 (28.14%) had only one given name, while 361 (68.63%) had two and 17 (3.23%) had three.
Fifteen men (2.85%) had suffixes attached to their names; of them, the most common was Jr. with 13 bearers, while one was II and one was III.
The most popular initials for the first given name were J (143, 27.19%), M (56, 10.65%), R (54, 10.27%), A (41, 7.79%) and E (28, 5.32%). No one had a first given name that started with Q, X, or Y.
John is the most popular first given name, followed by Mark and Joshua. These three names account for 12.93% of the sample.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 38 | John |
| 19 | Mark |
| 11 | Joshua |
| 9 | Jan |
| 6 | Michael, Vincent |
| 5 | Joseph, Kenneth, Marc |
| 4 | Adrian, Christian, Earl, Ian, Jason, Matthew, Robert, Steven |
| 3 | Aaron, Angelo, Carl, Daniel, Emmanuel, Hans, James, Jerico, Jerome, Jhon, Jon, Juan, Kim, Neil, Patrick, Paul, Ralph, Richard, Ryan, Vince |
| 2 | Albert, Alexis, Alfonso, Anton, Carlos, Cris, Dominic, Edward, Francis, Gio, Harold, Hubert, Ivan, Jake, Jericho, Jomar, Kent, Lance, Lyle, Miguel, Nikko, Noel, Paulo, Rafael, Ram, Raphael, Rex, Sean |
The top three names keep their places even after combining spellings, accounting for 16.92% of the sample.
| Bearers | Name (Alternate Spellings) |
|---|---|
| 54 | John (Jhon, Johnne, Jan, Jon) |
| 24 | Mark (Marc) |
| 11 | Joshua |
| 6 | Kenneth (Kenith), Michael, Vincent |
| 5 | Adrian (Edrian), Christian (Kristian), Jason (Jayson), Jerico (Jericho), Joseph, Steven (Stephen) |
| 4 | Aaron (Aerhon), Carl (Karl), Daniel (Dannielle), Earl, Ian, Matthew, Neil (Nil), Raphael (Rafael), Robert |
| 3 | Angelo, Christopher (Christoper, Kristopper), Emmanuel, Hans, Jerome, Jheremy (Geremy, Jereme), Jomar (Jhomar), Juan, Karlo (Carlo), Kim, Lance (Lanz), Laurence (Lahrenz, Lourenze), Nikko (Nico), Patrick, Paul, Ralph, Raymond (Reymond, Reighmonde), Richard, Ryan, Sean (Shan), Vince |
| 2 | Albert, Alexis, Alfonso, Andrei (Andre'), Anton, Brian (Bryan), Chris, Dominic, Edward, Francis, Gio, Harold, Hubert, Ivan, Jake, Kent, Lyle, Miguel, Noel, Paulo, Ram, Rex, Siegfred (Sheigfred) |
J (73, 20.22%) is also the most popular first letter for second given names, followed by A (44, 12.19%), R (36, 9.97%), C (34, 9.42%), and M (26, 7.20%).
John is also the most popular of the second given names, followed by Christian and Paul. Added up, these names account for 11.08% of those who had more than one given name.
| Bearers | Name |
|---|---|
| 17 | John |
| 12 | Christian |
| 11 | Paul |
| 9 | Angelo |
| 6 | Anthony, James, Joseph |
| 5 | Adrian, Carlo, Dave, Gabriel, Michael, Miguel |
| 4 | Jay, Joshua, Kyle, Marc, Rey |
| 3 | Alexander, Paulo, Ray, Roy, Vincent |
| 2 | Albert, Andre, Cedrick, Charles, Christopher, Clyde, Daniel, David, Ed, Edward, Enrique, Jan, Jason, Jeff, Jon, Jose, June, Karl, Louie, Louis, Marco, Mark, Matthew, Nikko, Oliver, Patrick, Roel |
The top three keep their places even after combining spellings, making up 12.47% of the second given name sample.
| Bearers | Name (Alternate Spellings) |
|---|---|
| 22 | John (Jhon, Jan, Jon) |
| 12 | Christian (Kristian) |
| 11 | Paul |
| 9 | Angelo |
| 8 | Rey (Ray, Rhey) |
| 7 | Adrian (Adrean, Adriane) |
| 6 | Anthony, Carlo (Karlo), James, Joseph, Marc (Mark) |
| 5 | Dave, Gabriel, Michael, Miguel |
| 4 | Jay, Joshua, Kyle, Roy (Roi) |
| 3 | Alexander, Andre (Andrei), Cedrick (Cedric), Christopher (Kristoffer), Karl (Carl), Nikko (Nico), Paulo, Vincent |
| 2 | Albert, Charles, Clyde, Daniel, David, Ed, Edward, Enrique, Floyd (Flloyd), Ivan (Aivan), Jason, Jeff, Jesse (Jessie), Jose, June, Lawrence (Lorence), Louie, Louis*, Marco, Matthew, Oliver, Patrick, Philip (Phillip), Roel |
The third given names in the sample are Novi, Joshua, Jay, Gabriel, Ark, Victor, Paolo, Miguel (2), Lewis, Felix, Roi, Zeamel, Alain, Rhoy, Laurent, and Mason.
| Name | My Thoughts |
|---|---|
| Artagnan Ruther | Whoever named him either read The Three Musketeers or watched the movie. As for the second name, is it a respelling of Ruther, a shortening of Rutherford, or a masculinization of Ruth? |
| Edgar Allan, Hans Christian | These three (there were two different guys named Hans Christian) should start a club. |
| Jester | ...maybe an alternate spelling of Chester? |
| Methusela | Banzai! |
| Reighmonde | The name belongs in a fantasy series where the setting is vaguely medieval, the characters speak Shakespearean-esque English, and the soundtrack is bardcore. |
| Winchester | Carry on, my wayward son!" The Winchester Mystery House also has an interesting story. |
Congratulations to all the passers. May you all have good careers ahead of you.
Full Results: October 2022 Electronics Engineer (ECE) Board Exam List of Passers