MOST COMMON FILIPINO NAMES: 2005

NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE – GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (GCOM)

The NSO-Office of the Civil Registrar General (NSO-OCRG) received a total of 1,688,918 copies of birth certificates from Local Civil Registry Offices nationwide on births reported to have occurred from January 2005 to December 2005.

More than half (52.0 percent) or a total of 878,084 of the reported births in the year

TABLE 1 Top 20 Most Common Names Among Males and Females: Philippines, 2005

Males Total % Males Total %1. Joshua 7,758 0.88 1. Angel 4,722 0.582. John Paul 7,389 0.84 2. Angelica 4,385 0.543. Christian 6,747 0.77 3. Nicole 3,603 0.444. Justine 5,821 0.66 4. Angela 3,283 0.405. John Mark 4,758 0.54 5. Mary Joy 2,579 0.326. John Lloyd 3,980 0.45 6. Mariel 2,479 0.317. Jerome 3,783 0.43 7. Jasmine 2,299 0.288. Adrian 3,750 0.43 8. Mary Grace 2,230 0.289. John Michael 3,609 0.41 9. Kimberly 2,088 0.2610. Angelo 3,595 0.41 10. Stephanie 2,024 0.2511. Justin 3,432 0.39 11. Christine 1,946 0.2412. John Carlo 3,279 0.37 12. Michelle 1,939 0.2413. James 2,969 0.34 13. Jessa Mae 1,728 0.2114. Mark 2,572 0.29 14. Jenny 1,717 0.2115. Kenneth 2,519 0.29 15. Angeline 1,711 0.2116. Jayson 2,311 0.26 16. Erica 1,698 0.2117. Mark Anthony 2,255 0.26 17. Bea 1,658 0.2018. Daniel 2,244 0.26 18. Janelle 1,651 0.2019. John Rey 2,241 0.26 19. Kyla 1,648 0.2020. Ryan 2,165 0.25 20. Althea 1,633 0.20Total Male Live Births 878,084 Total Female Live Births 810,834

Source: National Statistics Office

2005 were males while 48.0 percent or 810,834 babies born then were females.

About 0.9 percent or 7,758 of the total male births reported were named “Joshua”, while 0.6 percent or 4,722 of the total female births were named “Angel.”

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March 2009 No. 09-08

messenger of God or a spirit that protects and offers guidance in some religions, was the favorite name for female babies born in 2005. For the first time in the last four consecutive years (2000-2004), “Angel” surpassed the name “Angelica” which was consistently on top.

Other names in the top lists of choices by Filipinos were actually a variation of names from the root word “angel.” The names “Angela” and ”Angeline” were on the fourth and 15th place, respectively among females. Relatedly, “Angelo” ranked 10th among males.

The name “Joshua,” a biblical character who is the successor of Moses as leader of the Israelites, has always been the most preferred choice of Filipino parents for their male siblings since the year 2000 except in the years 2004 and 2002.

In 2004, while the name “Joshua’ ranked second in the Top Five Most Common Filipino Names Among Males, there were 259 (3.3 percent) more baby boys or a total 8,017 births reported bearing the said name than in 2005. On the other hand, the name “Angel”, which means a divine being who acts as a

TABLE 2 Top Five Most Common Filipino Names by Sex: 2000-2005 2005 2004

Male Female Male Female Joshua 7,758 Angel 4,722 Christian 8,111 Angelica 4,133John Paul 7,389 Angelica 4,385 Joshua 8,017 Angel 3,199Christian 6,747 Nicole 3,603 John Paul 7,275 Justine 2,887Justine 5,821 Angela 3,283 John 4,335 Mary Joy 2,672John 4,758 Mary Joy 2,579 John 3,687 Nicole 2,672Total 878,084 Total 810,834 Total 890,130 Total 820,864

2003 2002 Male Female Male Female

Joshua 15,469 Angelica 7,289 Angelo 7,024 Angelica 4,507Christian 13,034 Mary Joy 5,368 Christian 6,112 Angeline 3,361John Paul 9,791 Nicole 5,324 John Paul 4,768 Mary Joy 2,919Angelo 7,994 Angel 4,649 John 3,853 Kimberly 1,486John 7,551 Kyla 4,070 Jericho 463 Christine 1,304Total 868,749 Total 800,693 Total 891,312 Total 822,781

2001 2000 Male Female Male Female

Joshua 9,235 Angelica 6,012 Joshua 11,408 Angelica 6,493Christian 6,738 Erica 3,623 Christian 7,169 Erica 5,009Angelo 6,633 Mary Joy 2,421 John Paul 5,748 Mary Joy 4,190John Paul 5,381 Jessa 2,277 Jayson 2,764 Jessa 2,819John 1,870 Kimberly 1,103 Marvin 1,752 Kimberly 2,173Total 891,312 Total 822,781 Total 918,243 Total 848,197

Source: National Statistics Office

 

Meanwhile, nine of the Top 10 most common double-worded names among males in 2005 had “John” as first name – John Paul, John Mark, John Lloyd, John Michael, John Carlo, John Rey, John Benedict, John Patrick and John Vincent.

For baby girls given “combo” names, “Mary” was the favorite in 2005. In fact five of those in the top ten were Mary Joy, Mary Grace, Mary Rose, Mary Jane and Mary Ann.

TABLE 3 Top 10 Most Common Double-Worded Names Among Males and Females: Philippines, 2005

Name Total Name Total 1. John Paul 7,389 1. Mary Joy 2,5792. John Mark 4,758 2. Mary Grace 2,4793. John Lloyd 3,980 3. Jessa Mae 2,2994. John Michael 3,609 4. Mary Rose 2,2305. John Carlo 3,279 5. Angel Mae 2,0886. Mark Anthony 2,255 6. Christine Joy 2,0247. John Rey 2,241 7. Mary Jane 1,9468. John Benedict 1,858 8. Trisha Mae 1,9399. John Patrick 1,457 9. Rose Ann 1,72810. John Vincent 1,273 10. Mary Ann 1,717Source: National Statistics Office

Explanatory Notes The information presented herein was obtained from the birth certificates (Municipal Form No. 102) submitted by the City/Municipal Registrars from all over the country to the Office of the Civil Registrar General for processing and archiving purposes. There was no adjustment for underregistration in the presentation.

For more information, please write or call:

VITAL STATISTICS DIVISION Civil Registration Department

3rd Floor, Vibal Building, Times Street corner EDSA West Triangle, Quezon City 1100

Tel.: (02) 929-53-11

Or visit the NSO website:

http://www.census.gov.ph