There have been several names of the Philippines in different cultures and at different times, usually in reference to specific island groups within the current archipelago. Even the name Philippines itself was originally intended to apply only to Leyte, Samar, and nearby islands. It was bestowed by the Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos or one of his captains Bernardo de la Torre in 1543 in honor of the crown prince Philip, later PhilipII. Mindanao, which they reached first and assumed to be the greater land, they named after the reigning emperor CharlesV, who was also Spain's king CarlosI. Over the course of Spanish colonization, the name was eventually extended to cover the entire chain. It has survived with minor changes. The Philippine Revolution called its state the Philippine Republic. The US military and civilian occupations called their territory the Philippine Islands. During the Third Philippine Republic, the state's official name was formally changed to the Philippines.

Present name

The present name of the Philippines was bestowed by the Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos or one of his captains Bernardo de la Torre in 1543, during an expedition intended to establish greater Spanish control at the western end of the division of the world established between Spain and Portugal by the treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragoza. Having already named Mindanao for their king, the Habsburg emperor CharlesV, the Philippine Island honored his son, crown prince Philip, later PhilipII of Spain. The name Felipina and Islas Felipinas originally applied to only Leyte, Samar, and their nearby islands before shifting to Islas Filipinas and spreading to the rest. This was borrowed into English as the Philippine Islands soon after, a name which was used throughout America's military and civilian occupations of the archipelago.

Present name in other languages

The 1987 Constitution provides that Filipino and English be official languages of the Philippines. It does not contain a provision specifically designating an official name for the country; however, "Republic of the Philippines" is used consistently throughout its provisions (in English). Article XIV, section 8 of the Constitution also mandates that the constitution be also promulgated in Filipino but no such official Filipino version exists. "Republika ng Pilipinas" is the de facto name of the country used in Filipino. When standing alone in English, the country's name is always preceded by the article the. However, the definite article ang does not precede the name in Filipino contexts. The country has throughout its history been known as Filipinas. The earliest known use of Pilipinas in Tagalog was by the Katipunan in their deciphered 1892 foundational document. In the 1930s, the scholar Lope K. Santos introduced the abakada alphabet for writing Tagalog which no longer used the letter F as this sound was absent and was usually pronounced by speakers of several Philippine languages as "P". The abakada alphabet also subsequently spread to other Philippine languages (which had been using spelling systems based on the Spanish abecedario). Thus, the form Pilipinas propagated and came into general use. The Commission on the Filipino Language and National Artist, Virgilio S. Almario urged the usage of Filipinas as the country's official name to reflect its origin and history, and to be inclusive of all languages in the country of which phonologies contain, represented by the grapheme F in the present-day Philippine alphabet. This policy was later undone in 2021 by the new commissioner, Arthur Casanova, for being unconstitutional. The commission now recommends the use of Pilipinas over Filipinas when communicating in Filipino. At international meetings, only the English name usually appears to identify the Philippines (e.g., when there are meetings in the United Nations or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in this setting. This is also the tradition even if the meeting is held within the Philippines. The country's name in other languages is more often than not based on either or , both ultimately rooted in the Latin.

Historical names

In addition to the Philippines, the archipelago of a country has historically had numerous other names:

Uncertain names

Proposals for renaming

During the Third Philippine Republic is when the shortened name Philippines began to appear a name that was officially adopted. Since the official naming of the country as "the Philippine Islands" under American colonial rule and even earlier as "Filipinas", etc. under Spanish colonial rule, the primary reason for the country's name-change has always been "to break away from colonialism". A holistically government-backed name has yet to be determined, although a pan-Malay word reflecting the nation's island identity has been proposed as more appropriate, or one related to the archipelago's pre-Hispanic excellence in sailing and boat-building.

Proposed names

Citations