apilyido

From Spanish apellido “surname, family name.” The term refers specifically to the formal hereditary surname and should be distinguished from ngaran “name,” ga-a’ “nickname,” and bansag “moniker, epithet; community- or family-associated alias.”

The standardized hereditary surname system in the Philippines was greatly regularized by Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa’s decree of 21 November 1849 and the accompanying Catálogo alfabético de apellidos. The decree did not create Filipino personal naming or kinship identity; rather, it required consistent surnames that would identify and distinguish families across generations for parish and government records. Persons who already possessed legitimate hereditary surnames could retain them.

Related Words: ngaran; ba’no; ga-a’; bansag