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volume one: surnames from indigenous philippine languages.

soooo i’m honestly really annoyed that the rpc only ever gives filipino muses or muses of filipino descent spanish surnames. i know that it’s not unrealistic; spanish surnames were imposed on many of the philippines’ natives, after all, so even though most filipinos don’t actually have spanish ancestry, plenty of us have spanish surnames.

however !!! it is also very much true that surnames that derive from the indigenous languages (the philippines has 175 ethnolinguistic nations, fyi) are still in use today. filipinos who were born in the philippines tend to have two surnames, and this tradition may be preserved by some diaspora filipinos, so there are actually plenty of filipinos with one indigenous surname and one spanish/otherwise foreign surname in their birth names. examples: olivia laxamana hidalgo or chris velasquez adlawan. i myself am a real-life example.

that’s why i’ve compiled some neat surnames for your filipino muse. please change it up, please. (and also, for the last time, please stop giving your filipino muses spanish names like xiomara and teodoro or something, especially when they’re millennials or gen z. i mean, it’s not impossible, but ‘american’ anglo forenames are trendier + more common in the philippines these days. it’s also pretty annoying not to see diversity in names just because there’s this stereotype of filipinos being ‘basically latin american but in asia.’ that’s such a simplistic idea, and a disservice to both pinoys and latines.)

note that there are more surnames out there, of course, for every language than what’s listed under the cut. i couldn’t fit in all 175 ethnolinguistic groups here, so this list mainly features the following languages: BISAYA (“cebuano”/“boholano”), ILOKO, and TAGALOG. there’s a few for BIKOL and several for KAPAMPANGAN as well. please do not apply these surnames randomly to your character! please actually take into account what ethnolinguistic groups they hail from!

please like and/or reblog if using or if you’re a roleplay helper. or if you otherwise appreciate this compilation. note: spellings may differ due to the fact that none of the root words are originally in the latinate/english alphabet. thus these are merely transliterations.

pronunciation note: most of these are read with each vowel separating them. there are a few exceptions, like for example adlao (lao is read as one syllable, bc this is just a hispanicized spelling of adlaw.) but for most of these, please don’t read two vowels next to each other as one. meaning, “pacaon” is not “pakown” or something. it’s read as PAH-CAH-UN.

hispanicized spellings also make the vowels seem softer. most philippine languages do not actually have the sounds “o” or “e” in them, only “u” and “i.” so please remember that though you read “o” or “e,” the pronunciation is actually harder. this is a feature that philippine languages share with many other malayo-polynesian languages beyond the philippines. remember those stereotypes about filipino accents? now you know why the stereotypical filipino accent can’t pronounce o or e.

but also!!! especially because “filipino” (a standardized, invented language that’s mostly tagalog) is taught in schools, (metro) tagalog speakers are more likely to indeed read o and e as they are. the o and e thing is more preserved, so to speak, in speakers of non-tagalog languages because we tend to speak “purer” forms of our languages. we don’t learn them in schools so our accents aren’t usually affected by lessons in standardized pronunciation. honestly, even tagalog speakers from the smaller towns/provinces speak a less standardized and less soft tagalog. there are layers of class and classism to this, so just keep that in mind.

BIKOL

bulan (meaning: moon; also found across many philippine languages, including the ones below. a notable exception is tagalog.)

sabang (meaning: mouth of a river)

BISAYA (“CEBUANO” / “BOHOLANO”)

adlaw / adlao / adlawan / adlawon (meaning: sun or morning)

bahandi / bahande (meaning: treasure)

baliad (meaning: to arch oneself)

bantok / bantoc (meaning: hard, firm)

barangan (meaning: dark magic; also a type of fish)

biticon (meaning: to ensnare, as in a mouse trap; from “bitikon”)

calipayan (meaning: great happiness)

dagohoy (specifically bohol surname, short for “dagon sa huyuhoy,” a phrase meaning “charm/amulet of the breeze”)

dahotoy / dajotoy

gutang (meaning: calluses)

hayag (meaning: radiant)

himaya (meaning: bliss, glory)

kilatan / quilatan (meaning: to be struck by lightning)

laum (meaning: deep)

liloan (meaning: place where whirlpools appear)

macalipay (meaning: to make happy)

maliwat (meaning: to inherit [ancestor’s traits])

maloloy-on (meaning: merciful)

manigbas (meaning: to slash using a blade)

iligan (meaning: tooth)

pacaon (meaning: to feed)

pahuriray

panganoron (meaning: sky)

panit (meaning: skin, or to peel, as in the skin of an orange or potato)

pasayan (meaning: shrimp)

potot (meaning: short, as in a short person)

suba-an (meaning: river)

ubanan (meaning: to accompany someone, or perhaps gray hairs)

udtohan (meaning: noon)

bakiran / baquiran (meaning: forest)

ILOKO

agpangan (meaning: to eat)

basi (meaning: sugar cane wine)

biag (meaning: life)

bulanadi (meaning: sister moon)

biagan (meaning: to invigorate)

caasi (from “kaasi,” meaning: mercy, pity, compassion)

ulep (meaning: cloud)

KAPAMPANGAN

abac (meaning: morning)

dalusung (meaning: to go with force and agility)

cunanan

galura (meaning: eagle)

laksamana / laxamana / lacsamana

mallari (meaning: derives from the name of an ancient kapampangan moon god)

paras (meaning: spicy)

TAGALOG

angara (meaning: how fancy/splendid!)

awa (meaning: mercy)

awitan (meaning: to sing)

baga (meaning: ember)

bagang (meaning: molar tooth)

balani / balane (meaning: charm, magnet, magic stone)

banyaga (meaning: foreigner)

baon (meaning: provision)

batongbacal (meaning: steel rock)

bondoc (from “bundok,” meaning: mountain - fun fact, this is the etymological root for the english word “boondocks”)

bunyi / bunye (meaning: praise)

cahambing (from “kahambing,” meaning: kindred)

dalisay (meaning: pure; can also be a first name for girls)

dimaculangan (meaning: cannot be lacking)

dimaranan

dimatulac (meaning: cannot be pushed)

dimayuga (meaning: unshakeable)

diwa (meaning: mind, thoughts; alternative: isip)

halili (meaning: heir)

galang (meaning: veneration)

gatdula / lakandula (derived from a precolonial royal’s name)

liwanag (meaning: radiance; alternative: ilao)

mabini (meaning: fine, elegant)

manahan (meaning: inherit)

masangkay / masangcay

marasigan (meaning: deceiver)

pilapil (meaning: rice field)

sumulong (meaning: to advance)

umaga (meaning: morning)

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