Philippine names

In the Philippines, varying naming customs are observed, whether it is given name first, family name last, a mixture of native conventions with those of neighbouring territories, etc. The most common iteration amongst Filipinos is a blend of the older Spanish system and Anglo-American conventions, where there is a distinction between the "Christian name" from "surname". The construct of having several names in the middle name convention is common to all systems, but to have multiple "first" names and only one middle and last name is a result of the blending of American and Spanish naming customs. The Tagalog language is one of the few national languages in Asia to use the Western name order. Thus, the Philippine naming custom is coincidentally identical to the Portuguese name customs.

For the most part, most Filipinos abide by the Spanish system of using both paternal and maternal surnames, the latter constituting the "middle name". An example would be Jose Cuyegkeng y Mangahas becoming Jose Mangahas Cuyegkeng, where the particle y is used only for legal purposes and is otherwise dropped. The middle name in its natural sense would have been the second name if the person had one, but is never counted as an individual's given name.

Filipinos tend to be people with middle names and surnames.

Filipinos may have one or more official given names (as registered in their birth certificates and baptismal certificates) and various types of temporary or permanent nicknames. Filipinos have a penchant for giving themselves or each other various sorts of nicknames and monikers. Some nicknames are carried for life while others are used only with certain groups so a person can have multiple nicknames at different ages or among different groups of people.

Long given names can be shortened in various ways. Emmanuel can become Eman, Manuel, Manolo, Manny, or Manoy. Consolación has been converted to Connie, Cons, Sol, or Chona.

Filipino women with two given names such as María Cristina or María Victoria may choose to abbreviate the very common María (in honour of the Virgin Mary as Ma. (with a full stop), thus rendering these given names as Ma. Cristina or Ma. Victoria. Filipino males with two given names such as José Mariano or José Gerardo could follow the same practice of abbreviating Josés as Jo., but this is not as consistent. Some Muslims would follow conventions found in neighbouring Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, abbreviating "Muhammad" (and its variants, viz. "Mohammed", etc.) as "Muhd." or "Mohd."

...
Wikipedia