What's in a name?

The consequences of being a Dela Cruz (Part II)

STILL WATERS

Reflections of an Ex-Future Messiah

Previous posts:

What's in a Name?

(The Adventures of Being Leland)

Living with the Pips

In my father's house, there are many rooms.

I remember having a conversation with my brother recently about the matter and he said he spelled his name De la Cruz. I think he also mentioned that another sibling of ours wrote his or her name as dela Cruz.

All of these are matters of great consequence, of course. My wife, ever the diligent one, researched the proper spelling of my name because of the birth of our child. In writing out the requirements for her birth certificate, my wife insisted that she be named Istra Therese Lao Dela Cruz and not de la Cruz lest the child have problems later on.

And so, because there is a reason to do so, i.e. I love my child, I am slowly making the transition from being a "de la Cruz" to being a Dela Cruz. My syllabi all reflect the new name and all forms are filled up accordingly. (It's only now that I've checked my government i.d.s and guess what, they're all DELA CRUZ which saves me the trouble of wrestling with the bureaucracy. I guess unlike me, they checked my birth certificate). 

Aside from sparing my child tons of confusion, being a Dela Cruz instead of a de la Cruz might have implications on where my files are kept. I think that files of de la Cruz are kept under "C" and the files for "Dela Cruz" are kept under "D". Being a Dela Cruz (however it is spelled) can be a hassle because of this. Sometimes it takes people longer to find your files.

The other problem with having Dela Cruz as your last name is that it is deadly difficult to come up with a decent name that goes with Dela Cruz. Since Dela Cruz is supposedly commonplace, a child's first name has to be pretty unique lest s/he end up being one of several people with the same name. And Juan is almost automatically out lest the child be teased in school (although I did want to name a son Juan Fernando after my two favorite writers, St. John and Fernando Henrique Cardoso).

My parents went around the problem by giving us all second names. Thus we are in descending order Leandro Jesus (he was born before the Catholic Church prohibited the use of the name Jesus), Lynnette Socorro, Maria Lourdes Antonia, Leonardo Ramon, Jr., and me, Leland Joseph. (Our second names reflect the name of the most popular saint born on the same day. Ex. Me born one month before March 19, St. Joseph's feast day) I think my father learned from his experience when he was denied an NBI clearance ages ago because he had the same name as a notorious criminal more popularly known as "Nardong Putik".

Being a Dela Cruz has its challenges but its a name I can live with. I am particularly blessed because my nickname is Land so if you translate Dela Cruz, I would be the Land of the Cross. Of course such a name could be associated with Golgotha but I'd rather take it as a sign of blessedness.