Don Bosco Philippines South Province

It’s not uncommon that you will find weird and weirdly spelled Filipino names. In my ministry of celebrating Baptisms in the parishes I often run into extra h’s placed unconventionally in the babies’ names. I often have a chuckle about it with parents as I confer the sacrament.

This practice comes from not only parents wishing unique names for their children but also with the forward looking intention of keeping their children from ‘hits’ in the NBI records.

Police and NBI clearances are among the often required documents here in the Philippines when it comes to employment and other document processing. Sometimes the permutations of names is not enough for uniqueness and people often share names. And for those who run out of luck, they share names with people who have criminal records.

Parents recourse to making sure their baby’s name is unique as possible. So you can have a Michaela, Mikhaela, Mikhaella, Mhikaella, Mikkhaela, Mikkhaella, and a Mikkhaellha among other dizzying examples. I find it amusing and sometimes I run into trouble pronouncing the names as I say “Nn. I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Life, culture, and the Holy Spirit keeps the Church diverse and splendidly multi-colored.

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