CATALOGO ALFABETICOS DE Read more:

APELLIDOS https://opinion.inquirer.net/46885/a-
sense-of-order#ixzz65GKFGJfW
By: Narciso Claveria y Zaldua
 Civil servants assigned family names
in alphabetical order causing some
small towns with only a few families
Narciso Claveria y Zaldua ending up with all names starting with
 Military and Governor Spanish of the the same letter. Names were also
Philippine Islands issued based on the town of origin.
 Exercised their mandate between “A” for example was issued to primary
1844 and 1849 capitals, “B” for secondary towns, and
“C” for tertiary towns. Surnames were
 July 1844. The new Governor arrived
also based on the first letter of the
with precise instructions from Madrid,
town. Before the modern human
in the direction of restoring the
migration and inter-marriages among
prestige of the Spanish sovereignty
ethnicities, one can tell the hometown
among the natives, expand it as
origin of an individual based on their
much as possible to the Islands
Iberian last name.
where still dominated the paganism
and Islamism, and braking step  According to the decree, a copy of the
attempts to trade penetration by other catalog was to be distributed to the
provincial heads of the archipelago.
powers, notably Britain.
From there, a certain number of
 The reforms undertaken by the
surnames, based on population,
Government of Narciso Clavería
were sent to eachbarangay's parish
included two separate decrees that
priest. The head of each barangay,
gave greater powers to the mayors
along with another town official or
(1844) and allowed the adoption of
two, was present when the father or
Spanish surnames Filipino natives
the oldest person in each family
(November 1849).
chose a surname for his or her family.
(Source:
https://thebiography.us/en/claveria-  Several groups were exempted from
y-zaldua-narciso) having to choose new surnames:
 Those possessing a surname
Catalogo: previously adopted (whether
indigenous or foreign) that was on the
 On Nov. 21, 1849, Claveria decreed
list anyway; or if not on the list, that
that all Filipinos should take a
their name was not prohibited due to
surname as a step to improve census
ethnic origin or if it was too common.
data and tax collection. It also had the
 Families who having already adopted
added benefit of tracking down
a prohibited surname (either because
unusual or unauthorized migration
it had become too common, like de
throughout the Philippines. The
los Santos, de la Cruz, or other
decree came with a 141-page book
reasons) were able to prove they had
known to historians as the “Catalogo
had it for at least four consecutive
alfabetico de apellidos” (Alphabetical
generations.
catalogue of surnames) from which
 Because of the mass implementation
surnames were distributed
of Spanish surnames in the
geographically.
Philippines, amongst Filipinos a
 Spanish surname might not
necessarily indicate Spanish
ancestry and can make it difficult for
Filipinos to accurately trace their
ethnic background.
 The actual application of assigning
surnames widely varied from town to
town and from province to province.
The provinces of Camarines (now
Camarines Norte and Camarines
Sur) and Tayabas (now Quezon
Province) were known to enforce this
rule strictly, while parts of Laguna
simply ignored the decree.
 In the town of Oas, Albay, for
instance, many surnames there
begin with the letter R such as Roa,
Reburiano, and Rebajante. On the
island of Banton, Romblon,
surnames that begin with the letter F
are prevalent such as Fadrilan,
Famatigan, Fabicon, Faigao, etc.
Surnames starting with Villa and Al
are abundant in the town of Argao,
Cebu. Some surnames are: Villaluz,
Villaflor, Villamor, Villanueva, Albo,
Alcain, Alcarez, Algones, etc. Since
there are potentially at most 61,000
surnames in the book, not all of the
surnames were used.
Source:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/etc
etera/catalogo-alfabetico-de-
apellidos/413497488676089/

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arciso-claverias-1849-decree-and.html