The Global Filipina & Her Chronicles of International Love

I’ve been thinking a lot about this too. My conflict is that the American name format:

First Name Middle Name Last Name

is different from what we normally do in the Philippines:

First Name Middle Name (which actually means Mother’s Maiden Name for men and single women), Last Name

So let’s say a Filipino woman named Clarissa/ Paulino/ Cortez marries an American national with the Last Name Walker.

In the Philippines, her full name is to become Clarissa/ Cortez /Walker (her last name becomes her middle name ).

Recently, Filipina women have gotten into the trend of hyphenating their last names to keep all their names including their mother’s maiden name.

It’s less complicated for a woman without a second name.

Let’s say, like me, Clarissa has a second name Leila. For sentimental reasons, like me, she wants to keep at least her former last name. In the Philippines, it’s easier. She can just write Clarissa Leila/ Cortez/Walker.

I don’t know how it’s going to be in the US though because there are only three spaces for the names . Maybe she can write Clarissa (First Name) Leila (Middle Name) Cortez-Walker (hyphenated Last Name)?

Tell me your thoughts 🙂