Onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds. Anthroponymy is the study of the names of human beings. Some parents look to their beliefs in giving names to their children. For instance, most Catholic parents in the Philippines name their daughters after patron saints according to the calendar, but will almost always be preceded with the name Maria presumably to pay homage to the mother of Jesus.
Interestingly, not too many people know that the name Mary or its derivative Maria is a Hebrew term for beautiful, in the same way that not too many people know that APL de AP stands for Angel Lindo Pineda of Angeles, Pampanga. APL de AP is one of the members of the popular band Black Eyed Peas. We can safely presume that by adopting such a name, APL de AP wants to honor his roots and heritage as a Filipino. Luzviminda, which stands for Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, is another name that is proudly Filipino. Such a name was quite prevalent a few decades ago; unfortunately, I have yet to encounter a Filipino millennial these days with such a patriotic name.
Roilo is another name, although not as obvious as Luzviminda or APL de AP, which is proudly Filipino. As several people mourn the passing of Roilo Golez a few weeks ago, one report mistakenly referred to him as Rogelio. Rogelio is not an uncommon name, but Roilo is. The name of Roilo is actually a combination of the provinces of Romblon and Iloilo, the roots of this distinguished United States Naval Academy graduate. The Roilo name turned out to be predictive of Roilo’s career as this former boxing champion during his cadetship days served the country with much patriotic fervor until his death. His stints in public service include three years as a national security adviser and 18 years as an active legislator in Congress. The name Roilo, unique as it is, will always be associated to Roilo Golez, a true advocate of Philippine sovereignty.
The name Salvador is the Spanish form of the Latin name “Salvator,” which means savior. Since my father, my brother and my son are all named Salvador, prophetically, they may have performed or likely to perform savior-like functions sometime in the future. I know of one Salvador in Philippine Airlines (PAL) who has been trying his best to “save” the cabin services department since he took over the post a few months back. Salvador “Bud” Britanico Jr. has been slowly introducing innovative ideas to improve crew scheduling processes, a perennial issue among flight attendants and stewards. He has managed to make crew schedules more transparent and provide faster communication with the crew when it comes to changes in the published schedule. Though the system is still at its infant state, I am pleased to see how this particular Salvador in PAL has audaciously engaged the union leadership in his quest to maintain if not save the relationship between the union and management. Knowing the usually competing interests of each side, he finds a middle ground to minimize conflicts while generating cost savings in PAL. Thus far, by simply tweaking a few processes in crew assignments, Bud’s efforts have resulted to lower crew costs in some PAL flights.
Most recently, I know of one insurance company who recently renamed its corporate name to Bethel, which means “House of God.” And, as if on cue, Bethel, as a new company under a new set of leaders, has somehow mutated into the true meaning of its name as seen during its first board and organizational meeting. Its Vice Chairman Amiel Mercado, whose first name means “my people belong to God,” led an inspiring opening prayer as well as a closing prayer, although the latter was not included in the board agenda. Amiel implored the power and grace of God to help guide the company leaders toward financial success, principally for the benefit of its employees—his people who belong to God. Shortly after the board meeting, the priest who officiated the blessing ceremonies of the new office space appropriately declared that he was actually blessing the people and not just the office. For him, it was more important to bless the employees than the rooms and cubicles where they work.
Somehow our names, either chosen (as in the case of APL de AP) or given (as in the case of Roilo), can be a good predictor of how our lives will turn out in the future. In the Bible, Abraham used to be called as Abram. But when he was called upon to be a father at 100 years of age, he was renamed to appropriately elevate his status, as it was written in Genesis 17:5-6: “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” And true enough, Abraham became the father of many descendants who later on became kings. To cap the transformation in Bethel General Insurance and Surety Co., Bethel is now providentially led by its youthful President Dominga Garcia, whose first name means “of the Lord.” Applying principles of onomatology and relevant verses in the Bible, a company whose new name means House of God and led by leaders whose names mean “my people belong to God” and “of the Lord” will gradually live up to the meaning of its name in the near future, similar to how Abram became the father of many nations shortly after he was renamed Abraham.
Our name stays with us from birth until death. We rarely have control over such choice, but our names can somehow define who we can be, as in the cases of Roilo Golez and Salvador Britanico Jr. In my case, Siegfried or its westernized counterpart Siegfred, is the name of the legendary king/dragon slayer in German mythology. It also means victorious peace. We should thank our parents for giving us our names. To us, how we live up to our name, whether given by our parents, as in the cases of Amiel and Dominga, or chosen by us, as in the case of Bethel Insurance, will ultimately depend on our free will. But for Him, He already knows way beforehand—that’s something we refer to as God’s will.
For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.