A name, according to the Supreme Court in a 2005 case, has two parts: (1) the given or proper name and (2) the surname or family name. The given or proper name is that which is given to the individual at birth or at baptism, to distinguish him from other individuals. The surname or family name is that which identifies the family to which he belongs and is continued from parent to child. Parents are free to select the given name of their child, but the law fixes the surname to which the child is entitled to use.
Middle names, on the other hand, are not regulated by law, although the Filipino custom is to use the mother’s surname as the child’s middle name. Still, you cannot drop or delete your middle name. Middle names serve to identify the maternal lineage or filiation of a person as well as further distinguish him from others who may have the same given name and surname as he has.
How about an illegitimate child whose filiation is not recognized by the father? Can that child use the middle name of the mother? The answer is, no. That child “bears only a given name and his mother’ surname, and does not have a middle name. The name of the unrecognized illegitimate child therefore identifies him as such.”
An illegitimate child may now use the surname of the father. This is a recognition of the fact that illegitimacy is not the child’s fault, and, therefore, the child should be shielded against the social stigma and other negative consequences arising from illegitimacy. To illustrate, what’s your first thought should you notice that a kid uses the name of the mother, and not of the father? Even the illegitimate child’s friends and contemporaries in school, should they learn that, unlike them, their friend follows the surname of the mother, would start asking why.
Another welcome amendment is with respect to the procedure in changing names. Going to court, with all the expenses that goes with it, to change first names and correct clerical errors is no longer necessary. Under Republic Act No. 9048 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general is authorized to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change the first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial order. It must be made clear, however, a court order is still required for substantial changes such as surname, gender, nationality, and status.
R.A. 9048, which took effect on 22 April 2001, amends the Civil Code (Articles 376 and 412), which prohibits the change of name or surname of a person, or any correction or change of entry in a civil register without a judicial order. The matters that you need to know (Primer) about R.A. 9048 is found at the National Statistics Office (NSO) website.
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Hi atty,
This is my second time, but until now i havent recvd any answer from you.. let me ask the same scenario,when i was 17, my aunt secure a SSS# for me but she put MARICEL instead of AIDA as my first name. Since then when i started working , i use MARICEL in my pag-ibig, philhealth, voter’s id and even in my kids birth certificate. How can i change my first name in my kids bc as well as most of my docs? please reply
Hi atty
pano po ang aking gagawin. Simulat sapul po kc Roy Clemente n po ang aking gnmit, all my documets and valid id, pero Baby Boy clemente po pla ang real name ko. Atty help me. D po kc ako maka kuha ng pasport. Maraming salamat po.
Hi Atty,
Good day.
I am having a problem with regards to my fathers’ middle initial in my birth certificate. It was mistyped incorrectly. It should be ‘N’ instead of ‘M’. What should I do?
Please help me because I need your advice very badly 🙁
Thank you.
Femar,
Hi sir,
I have my 4 years old son, he got the surname of his father, but were not married. He agreed already that I will change my sons last name. And I’v got married 7 months ago and my husband wants him to carry his last name. Please help.. I do really need your help badly. I really appreciate your help.
Thank you very much.
Hi i just want to know pano po ba makakuha ng legal separation, my husband now is married from his first wife. tapos 2 years na po ka meng nagsasama. 2 years na din po sila hiwalay pero may contact po sila kasi humihingi po ng suporta yong una nya na asawa. pls answer me we need it. thanks
God Bless
Good day attorney, I’m a mother of two kids. Both was born before they allowed again illegitimate children to have their fathers last name. So both of my children aged 12 and 9 are using my last name and have no middle name. I would like to ask attorney what we should do to change their last name to their father’s last name and to have my last name as their middle name( as everyone thus even illegitimate). Their father is deceased but he have signed the birth certificate of my children. Now since his dead and was married to another women, what procedure should I do for them to have their father’s last name…thank u very much attorney…
Hi Attorney,
I too would like to know how to have my children’s (both minors) last name changed to mine (mother) apart from filing a petition to change their surnames. Their father and I were not married and have separated. If this has been answered in another post, please provide the link.
If the only course however is to file the said petition, what would be the grounds/basis for the courts to approve the request?
Thank you.
hello po atty.
tanong ko lang po kung ano ang gagawin dahil ang kapatid ko ay walang middle name at ipananganak sya nung 1992. dahil sa lahat ng records nya kahit ang passport ay may middle name sya kasi nung ni-register sya, my mother wrote her surname and middle name to register yung kapatid ko kung saan unknowingly binura pala ng sa lcr ang middle name. illegitimate po ang kapatid ko.
maraming salamat po.
I just want to ask something. What if I denounce the surname of my biological father? I mean I don’t want to use his surname anymore. Is it possible that I can use my mother’s maiden name as my maiden name and her surname as my surname too? Hoping for a response. Thank you.
Good day!
I am hoping to have a minor name change. My first name in both the original and NSO birth certificates is written as ‘NATHANIE’ instead of ‘NATHANIEL’. Ever since childhood I have always been mistaken as a girl/woman. And ‘Yes’ I am a man. It was a clerical error. I remember a lot of episodes in my life wherein various government offices would deny me of documents due to uncertainties of either my name or my gender. My family have not pursued a name change before due to the painstaking court procedures and the costly expenses it pertains.
I do not have two documents to show as a basis for my name to be changed. The only document that I have wherein ‘NATHANIEL’ and not ‘NATHANIE’ is written is my Baptismal Certificate. Unfortunately, all of my present documents had depended heavily on the original birth certificate with error. I would gladly appreciate any possible remedies. Thank you.