Why do so many Filipino names sound Mexican/Spanish?

Question

I've noticed that the last names of many (altho not all) Filipino people sound like they are Mexican and/or Spanish. I've also noticed that many cities/places in the Phillippines sound this way also. Aren't Filipinos considered more "Asian" than anything else? I suppose I could Google all this , but I don't have time, so I thought I would ask here instead. Thanx!

Answer 1

The Republic of the Philippines, as it is officially called today, was once a colony of the Spain. discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521,who was Portugese but was working for Spain,named the archipelago after the King of Spain,King Philipp.
The Philippines became a colony for 333 years,Filipinos were given Spanish sounding names when they were baptized as Christians(Roman Catholic).
as a result intermarriages between europeans was popular and so mixing of race and genes occured giving a lot of Filipinos a unique feature as compared to other Southeast Asians like Thais,Indonesian and Malaysians.
and didi you know that Filipinos are mostly Bilingual or multilingual!! being able to speak at least two languages like English and Spanish not to Mention their own language Filipino and some regional dialects as well.

Answer 2

The Philippines were under Spanish rule for about 300 years so the Spaniards gave the places and people Spanish names

Answer 3

we were colonized by the spanish for more than 300 years, and during that they forced filipinos to change their names into spanish(ex. balagtas was turned into baltazar, etc.)

names of places and people do not connote what their race is..what's in a name anyway?

there's also this harsh reality that some other asian countries do not treat the philippines as an asian country just because we are not buddhists or taoists. and that we don't have ancient architecture that are like the palaces of china, korea and japan...

they fail to look at our age old tradition. the bahay kubos, the rice terraces, the festivals with colorful costumes. this is what we fought for for 300 years. we are a diverse country, a cradle for all cultures if you will. and that seems to make us non-asian to them.

Sometimes the PHILIPPINES is very much out of place. Asians reject us, and westerners deny us... Its as if we are nothing.....

well, im proud to be filipino..if Philippines is regarded as cradle of different cultures then im proud to be one..That makes us unique.

Answer 4

The Phillippines were a Spanish colony for 300+ years prior to 1898.

Answer 5

That's because the Spaniards had Filipinos back then to change their names/surnames into Spanish ones (for registration purposes maybe, since almost everybody was named Juan or so as one anecdote goes) and so the many Spanish sounding names/surnames.

Answer 6

in the 1500's there was this man who arrived and claimed the philippines to spain. philippines named after prince philip of spain; and it became part of the spanish empire. spanish colonial system was developed. the era began and lasted for 3 centuries. the philippines was administered as a province of new spain until the mexican independence. even the church embraced spanish policy during that time. spaniards want to convert them to roman catholics. the spanish era was ended by a revolution, after the war, USA controled the philippines and so on...so until now, spanish stuff hasn't left the country... philippines has taken a lot from it. language, culture, etc.

Answer 7

The Spanish have colonised the Philippines for 300+ years. They also baptised the Filipinos into Catholicism giving them spanish/christian names.

Answer 8

Because Philippines was conquered by the Spaniards by 333 yrs. (Not sure) So the culture of the spaniards have been passed down. Even the religion.

Answer 9

Spain conquered the Philipinnes, many years ago. At the turn of the 20th century, american soldiers were having trouble with a tribe called the amoks. Our soldiers were issued .38 caliber smith & wesson revolvers, that were ineffective against the amoks, who would wrap their bodies in tree roots. Our military asked gun manufacturers to submit more effective sidearms for testing. Our military strung up monkee carcasses, and shot them with the test guns. The carcasses that swung the most were shot by the gun that was submitted by COLT. COLT won the contract. The Colt .45acp was the official government issue sidearm for many years. The phrase, "running amuk(amok) came from this.

Answer 10

It's because both Spain and Mexico colonized us. Spain administered Philippines through Mexico for hundreds of years.