My cousin’s name is Isabel, and she is the eldest daughter. We call her Isa, which in English means One, but is also the first syllable of her name. (Isabel x FirstBorn) – bel = Isa
Miguel is Michael in American, which becomes Mike—which, when translated back to Tagalog, is reborn Moke. (Miguel + The Spanish-American War) x Manila = Moke
Diana Elena Ramos is neither the eldest nor the youngest child, but rather the only one. Since she’s born in the States there’s less history attached. There are no relatives around to toy with the pronunciation. No aunts or uncles or baby cousins to repeat and revise the name until it’s something totally different from how it began. Nicknames are variety: they’re different from the original. This one is simpler, less connected— isolated to only the first name. ((Diana – Asia) – extended family) x America = Yana
Filipino names are a phonetic puzzle, an audible collision of histories, conquest, movement, (dis)order. They are English, Spanish, Latin, Malay, Chinese. They have to be sounded out to even begin to make sense. Diana: Di-yah-nah. Yana. Isabel: Ees-ah-bel. Isa. They are syllables chosen and shuffled, glued together and cut out like a memory game— can you figure out where the First Name went? Can you figure out where the Philippines went?
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