The name of the Philippines (Filipino: Pilipinas [pɪlɪˈpinɐs], Spanish: Filipinas) is a truncated form of The Philippine Islands, derived from the King Philip II of Spain in the 16th century. During the expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos to the Islands, Spanish sailor Bernardo de la Torre used the name Las Islas Filipinas in honour of the then-Prince of Asturias, originally referring to the islands of Leyte and Samar. Despite the presence of other names, the name Filipinas (Philippines) was eventually adopted as the name of the entire archipelago.
The official name of the Philippines, however, has changed throughout the course of its history. During the Philippine Revolution, the state officially called itself República Filipina, now referred to as the First Philippine Republic. From the period of the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War until the Commonwealth, United States colonial authorities referred to the Philippines as the Philippine Islands, a direct translation of the original Spanish. It was during the American Period that the name "Philippines" began to appear, a name that was officially adopted.
Ma-i. According to the Zhao Rugua's (趙汝适) book Zhu Fan Zhi (诸蕃志) written around the 13th century during the Song Dynasty, there was a group of islands found in southern South China Sea called Ma-i (麻逸, Pinyin: Máyì). The islands groups were later invaded and renamed and identified by the Spanish to be the island of Mindoro. This was further proved by Ferdinand Blumentritt in his 1882 book, Versuch einer Ethnographie der Philippinen (An Attempt to the Study of Ethnography of the Philippines) that Ma-i, which means "country of the Blacks" was the Chinese local name of present-day Mindoro. On the other hand, historians claimed that Ma-i was not an island, but all the south of South Sea islands groups and Manila itself, which was known to be an overseas Chinese settlement which was in constant contact with the Chinese mainland as early as the 9th century AD.
Ma-i consists of the Sānzhōu (三洲, "Three islands") group of islands: Kia-ma-yen (卡拉棉, Calamian), Bālāwàng (巴拉望, Palawan) and Pa-ki-nung (布桑加, Busuanga).
Aside from Sānzhōu, Ma-i also consists of the islands of Pai-p'u-yen (巴布延, Babuyan), P'u-li-lu (波利略, Polillo), Lim-kia-tung (林加延, Lingayen), Liu-sung (呂宋, Luzon) and Li-ban (盧邦, Lubang). It was said that these islands had contacts with Chinese traders from Canton (Guangdong) as early as 982 AD.
Lei was the name given by the Chinese to the present-day island of Luzon, originated from the Tagalog word lusong, a wooden mortar that is used to pound rice. When the Spanish produced maps of the Philippines during early 17th century, they called the island Luçonia which was later respelled as Luzonia, then Luzon.
Las islas de San Lázaro (St. Lazarus' Islands). Named by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 when he reached the islands of Homonhon in Samar (now present-day Eastern Samar) on the feast day of Saint Lazarus of Bethany.
Las islas de Poniente (Islands to the West). Another name from Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 when he learned that the Las islas de San Lázaro also included Cebu and Leyte islands. However, various sources claimed that Magellan was not the one who renamed the area, but his chroniclers instead. The name came from the fact that the islands were reached from Spain en route approaching the left part of the globe. Conversely, the Portuguese called the archipelago Ilhas do oriente (Islands to the East) because they approached the islands from the east of Portugal in late 1540s.
The Portuguese referred the whole island of Luzon as ilhas Luções, or Luzones Islands.
Mindanao was formerly called ilhas de Liquíos Celebes because of the existence of Celebes Sea south of Mindanao.
Las islas Felipinas (Philippine Islands/Islands belonging to Philip). Named by Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543 to Samar and Leyte, honoring the Prince of Asturias, the then Philip II of Spain.
Caesarea Caroli was the name given by Villalobos to the island of Mindanao when he reached the sea near it. This was named after the Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (and I of Spain).
The southern island of Sarangani was renamed by Villalobos as Antonia, in honor of Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, the Viceroy of New Spain who commissioned Villalobos expedition to the Philippines.
Villalobos also named the littoral zone between the islands of Samar and Leyte as Tendaya.
Las islas Filipinas, or simply Filipinas (Philippines). Vernacular corruption of Las islas Felipenas; irrevocably became the archipelago's name.
Pearl of the Orient/Pearl of the Orient Seas (Spanish: Perla de oriente/Perla del mar de oriente) is the sobriquet of the Philippines. The term originated from the idea of Spanish Jesuit missionary Fr. Juan J. Delgado in 1751. In his last poem Mi último adiós, Dr. José Rizal referred the country with this name. In the 1960 revision of Lupang Hinirang, the Philippine national anthem, the Tagalog version of this phrase was included as the translation from the original Spanish.
The Philippine Islands. This was the anglicised form of the original Spanish name, used under direct American rule and the succeeding Commonwealth Era.
Haring Bayang Katagalugan (Sovereign Tagalog Nation). Andrés Bonifacio's suggested name for the Filipino nation, intended to be governed by the 1896–1897 Republika ng Katagalugan (Tagalog Republic), although unrecognized by non-Tagalog Filipinos. This was later used by Macario Sakay for his 1902–1906 government that was suppressed by the Americans.
Kapatiran ("Brotherhood"), or its semi-equivalent Katipunan ("Assembly"/"Gathering").
Luzviminda. A portmanteau of the first syllables of the country's three major island groups: Luzon; Visayas; and Mindanao. Appears more nowadays as a dated female given name.
Mahárlika (Sanskrit: mahardhikka, "nobility"). In Pre-Hispanic Philippines, the mahárlika was the "noble warrior" class whose members were essentially the same as common freedmen, distinguished by their duty to serve the ruler in battle. In 1978, then-President Ferdinand Marcos supported a House Bill mandating the country's renaming to Mahárlika.
Rizalia. Named after national hero José Rizal, in a similar fashion to Bolivia being named after Simón Bolivar.
República Rizalina ("Rizaline Republic"). While exiled in Japan, former revolutionary general Artemio Ricarte proposed the name and had already drafted a constitution for this attempt at a revolutionary government.
Maniolas. According to Fr. Francisco Colin in 1663, a Jesuit friar and an early historian of the Philippines, Maniolas was the name used by Claudius Ptolemy to refer to the group of islands south of China (i.e. Luzon). Colin quoted Ptolemy's writings speaking about the Maniolas islands, which is probably Manila. This theory was further supported by José Rizal and Pedro A. Paterno. Rizal also said that the country was recorded to Ptolemy's maps when a sailor named Hippalus told him the existence of "beautiful islands" in southeastern Far East. However, Trinidad Pardo de Tavera rejected this notion on his 1910 book, Notas para una cartografia de Filipinas (Notes for the Philippine Cartography).
Baroussai. Along with Maniolas is the Baroussai which was also quoted from Ptolemy. Barrousai is believed to be the Visayas with Mindanao, thus, composing majority of the now Philippine archipelago.
Ophir (Hebrew: אוֹפִיר) is a region of islands mentioned in the Bible, most famous for its wealth. Accounts mention that King Solomon received the riches of the region every three years. At the emergence of the hydrography of Spanish colonies in Asia in the early 17th century, Dominican Gregorio García wrote that Ophir was indeed located in the Moluccas and the Philippines. In 1609, Juan de Pineda wrote a diverse collection of literature relating Biblical accounts of Solomon, Ophir and the islands. Former Prime Minister Pedro A. Paterno said in one of his works on conjectural anthropology that Ophir is the Philippines because the scented wood Solomon received from Ophir also exists in the Islands. This notion was however, later dismissed by modern historians as merely alluding and comparing the Philippines' position to the Spanish economy with that of Ophir to Solomon's kingdom—the sudden discovery and colonisation of the Islands bringing wealth and prosperity to the realm.
Tawalisi, was an ancient kingdom in Southeast Asia reached by explorer Ibn Battuta. He reached the kingdom when he left Sumatra and headed towards China. According to the historical accounts of the explorer, he met Urduja, a legendary warrior princess from Pangasinan. However, according to William Henry Scott, Tawilisi and its warrior-princess Urduja are "fabulous, fairy-tale, fiction".
Given that it has two official languages, the country also possesses two official names as stated in the 1987 Constitution. In Filipino, it is officially called Republika ng Pilipinas, while it is named the Republic of the Philippines in English. 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 Commission on the Filipino Language and National Artist, Virgilio S. Almario urges the use of Filipinas as the country's official name to reflect its origin and history.
Unlike Ireland which uses the name "Éire/Ireland" to identify itself in international meeting, 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 country's boundary.
In many Philippine languages such as Tagalog, "Pilipinas" is used, while some other languages, including Ilocano, use "Filipinas".
Though the name Philippines is the official name that is used by the country's government for international and domestic businesses, numerous major languages of the world still use their own translation or transliteration of the name Philippines to refer to it.
