MEANING & HISTORY
What does Filipino mean?
The Online Etymology Dictionary traces the English noun Filipino through Spanish and the expression Islas Filipinas. This supplies a geographical word history for the independently recorded given name, rather than proving a masculine diminutive of Philip.
The national designation, the language name and a family’s personal naming choice remain different contexts.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗THE RECORDED SPELLING
Find Filipino in the sources
Public-record evidence
OpenHalalan · COMELEC · 2001
Given-name field in the source
FILIPINOCSV record 8,000 (header counted as record 1)
The source transcribes elected-candidate lists. The record number locates the quoted given-name field.
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Filipino in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Filipino
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Filipina·Filip feminine form in the Philip horse-friend family
- Agripino·Derivative in the Roman Agrippa name family
- Felino·Felinus form, cat-like
- Filomeno♂Greek Philomenes account: love + strength
- Silvino♂Of the woods, through the Silvinus family
- Albino♂White; bright, through Albinus
- Aquilino♂From Aquilinus, related to eagle-name Aquila
- Celerino·Quick or prompt in the Latin-derived name account
What rhymes with Filipino?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Filipino further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Douglas Harper / Online Etymology Dictionary — Filipino (opens in a new tab)
English noun via Spanish Islas Filipinas; adjoining specific expedition-date claim not adopted.