Why Filipino names are quirky, expressive and rich with culture and history
Concepts of love, kinship, family and colonization are written into thousands of Filipino names

What's in a name?
For many Filipinos, that can be a complicated question to answer and one that speaks to centuries of culture and history.
Take my own name for example: My CBC byline is officially Gian-Paolo Mendoza, but most people know me as GP. It's easy to see how I got it.
But for many Filipinos, their names are often made up of other names, or they have nicknames that barely have any semblance to their legal name.
And then there are last names — many of which speak to the history of Spanish colonization of the Philippines.
WATCH | 4 Filipino Canadians break down their unique first names and nicknames:
Here are some of the common themes.
Brand new names
One of the most popular naming practices in the Philippines is combining the first few letters of each individual parent's name to form a completely new name.
"My dad's name is Jose and my mom's name is Maria," said Jomar Santos, a Filipino Canadian in Vancouver. "That's kind of how they came to name me Jomar."
Vancouverite Jenally Maranon's first name is a combination of three different relatives' names.
"So my mom's name is Jesusa, and I got the 'J-E' from her; my dad's name is Ronaldo, and I got the 'N-A' from him; and then my uncle on my dad's side … his name is Rolly, and I got the 'L-L-Y' from him," she said.
Leonora Angeles, a University of British Columbia professor and president of the National Pilipino Canadian Cultural Centre, says the concept of combining syllables to form new names honours the family lineage.
"Marital union is taken [so] seriously in the Philippines, to the point that they'd like to honour that marital union by naming the children, or one of the children, after the names of the couple who got married," said Angeles.
Nicknames
The use of nicknames is another deeply ingrained part of Filipino culture. For many Filipinos, their legal first name isn't always the one they use in their day-to-day lives.
Many go by nicknames like "Baby," commonly given to the youngest child in a family; "Jun,"