Writing your name

“How do I write my name in Baybayin?” – It depends what your name is.

The general rule is to spell as pronounced. Since people pronounce their names differently, it’s entirely up to you how you want it translated to Baybayin. Some traditional translation examples:

Rhea = DE/RE-YA
I assume it’s  pronounced ReYa but if you say ReA then the translation would be DE/RE-A
Aguila = A-GI-LA
If you don’t pronounce the U, then drop it. If you pronounce it, then the translation would be A-GU-I-LA.
Now for some hard names
Anastasia = A-NA-TA-SI-YA
Just like Rhea, I assume it’s pronounced YA at the end.
Junior = DI-YO-NI-YO
Since there’s no J in Baybayin, a combo of the DA & YA characters with kuldits do the trick of emulating the J sound. More info about J here.

Some words/names are Consonant/Consonant/Vowel (CCV). While the basic traditional Baybayin rule is to drop anything not followed by a vowel, there are exceptions 🙂

Cruz = KA-DU/RU
Typing Cruz in the translator would only yield the DU/RU character. You should type it in as “Karuz”. While not exactly phonetic, it’s pretty close.
Christian = KA-DI/RI-TI-YA
The silent H is dropped and the A is translated to YA. The online translator will not recognize “Christian”, you will have to type it in a Baybayin friendly format.

257 thoughts on “Writing your name”

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  11. do you still charge for writing out a tat? you did one of mine a few years ago and i really want to get my son’s name.

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  14. Hi, I was wondering how you would translate the j sound. Like for Geraldine or genna. Is that with a g or a diye? I am trying to figure out how to translate. Genna (Jenna), Giuliana (geeuuliiiaannaa), Glen, Leonard. Help

    Reply

  18. you are by far the most reliable person to ask about anything related to the baybayin transcript and i would like to ask you something. both my family names have been quite easy to write in translation but i want to make sure it is correct for future personal reference.
    Hinayo can be translated as ; hi-na-yo
    Suase can be translated as ; su-a-se
    your feedback Mr. Cabuay is greatly appreciated

    Reply

  26. hey, can you help me i want a tattoo of my name aeriel, like the little mermaid or the word love in baybayin as a tattoo. My name is pronounced AY-REE-YEL.

    Reply

  33. I wanted to make sure I was translating my last name correctly. Are these correct?
    Cabaccang
    Traditional: ka-ba-ka
    Modern: ka-ba-ka-ng

    Reply

  41. I wanted to translate my last name. It’s Di Maio and with no silent letters and every letter is pronounced. So is it Di – ma – i – o ? I would appreciate it. Love the work!

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  45. Is it acceptable to use Baybayin for initials/monogram? I’m attempting to design a logo/trademark of sorts that include my initials, “DMS” [Da Ma Sa]

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    • Also, if I were to design a monogram style logo using initials, would it be necessary to add the consonant only kudlit for each letter?

      Reply

      • Thank you for your prompt reply… I apologize for the redundant question – your reply did not show on my screen until I’d posted it. Thanks again.

  49. Hi. My sister and I wanted to get our last name translated into Baybayin and then tattooed on. I’ve been reading up on how to write it, but want to make sure we get it right. The last part is where I’m confused on how to write the way it sounds. My last name is Talao. Ta-lao. The -ao sounds ow like in “pow” or “now”, not “low”.

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  54. I am trying to write my mom’s maiden name, Bautista. I have so far, Ba U Ti S ta Does that seem correct? Thanks

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  55. my name is jackie, would i have to write it like: di-ya-ki ? i was reading the modified baybayin too so i’m not sure if it would still be “ja-ki” or should it have been written in the old way with the kudlits? thank you in advance

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  58. Thank you very much for your earlier reply. Also I’m planning do a painting for my son’s ninong and ninang as a gift for the baptism. Would the spelling be NI-NA-NG/NI-NO-NG? or without the NG? Salamat po…

    Reply

  59. Sir, wanted to know if you could translate my last name in baybayin. Tried using your online translator but just wanted to make sure I’m doing it right. My last name is spelled LLANTOS. I entered it the way it’s spelled and any other ways it sounded like LIANTOS and LEANTOS and each came out with different results. Could you please help.

    Reply

  60. Sir i was thinking of getting a new tattoo of my name in baybayin and can i write Christian Peralta in K-RI-S-TI-YA-N or K-RI-TI-YA-N is it only K-RI-TI-YA and in Peralta PE-RA-L-TA is this correct?

    Reply

      • Hello sir. Ive been reading and trying to translate my middle and last names into baybayin. I just want to make sure if i did the correct translations:

        Cataquis = Ka-Ta-Ki
        Ortico = O-Ti-Ko

        If im going to design these in a triangular manner, which character should be on top? Will it be the “Ta”?

        Your advice on this will be very much appreciated.

      • Great. Thank you so much for the quick response sir. I really appreciate it.

        How about if im to write these in a triangular way? Would Ka-Ta-Ki be:

        Ka (bottom left)-Ta (top)-Ki (bottom right)?

        Are there rules in doing this?

        Sorry for posting my reply here. Cant seem to reply to your post below.

  67. Good evening sir I just want to know if my translation is right?
    Sherwin (s-he-r-wi-n)
    Sicat (si-ca-t)
    Raycee ann (ra-y-ce -a-n)
    Tnx a lot more power

    Reply

  73. eto po, pano gawing alibata letters? “mga obra maestra ng mga makabagong pilipinong kwentista” kailangan po kasi namin sa project. itatranslate daw. Hindi naman po tama ung nasa microoft word na font kasi per letter ung lumalabas.. Thanks a lot po 🙂

    Reply

  77. Hi Kristian, I downloaded your app and was hoping to contact you regarding translating for a tatoo. I am also willing to compensate you for your time and effort. Please let me know if this is a possibility. I tried to translate it on my own but I don’t want to translate it wrong especially since I have the double l’s in my name and also an “ay” sound. I am really interested on how to do this.

    Reply

  88. good day sir. pls translate my sisters’ name in alibata/baybayin:

    1.) yom grande
    2.) cai grande (pronounced as KAY; ang sapatos ay para KAY kuya)

    thank you very much & God bless…

    Reply

  98. Can you translate my name into baybayin? Ma. Janna Ysadrea Dadizon Mangco. Thanks!

    Ma = short for Maria
    Janna = Jan-na
    Ysadrea = I-sad-dreya
    Dadizon = Da-di-zon
    Mangco = Mang-ko

    Reply

  99. what the alibata translation of the name Ceasar Ben Nolasco? Both the way to pronounce it in alibata and the alibata translation

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  109. Magandang araw… Paano yung sa pangalan ko na Marjurry, Marvin John, at John Jurry. Madarang? Maraming salamat…

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  110. Hello Sir,
    would like to ask for your help..

    Can you correct me if I’m wrong?

    Hyuwan – hyu-wan
    Ethan John – e-tan dya-n
    Ethan – e-tan
    John – dya-n
    Tropang Mafia – tro-pang map-ya

    Pls. respond..
    Thanks!

    Reply

  112. Hi! So as what I read from your article, I
    should spell a word in baybayin according to how it is pronounced. So for ‘Charmaine’ which is pronounced as ‘Tsarmeyn’, which one is correct: ‘T-sa-r-me-y-n’ (ᜆ᜔ᜐᜇ᜔ᜋᜒᜌ᜔ᜈ᜔) or ‘T-s-a-r-me-y-n’ (ᜆ᜔ᜐ᜔ᜀᜇ᜔ᜋᜒᜌ᜔ᜈ᜔) . Or I got it completely wrong. Haha! And also, I (really) tried to search what the double kudlits (ᜄ̤) are but I wasn’t able to find any readings about them. May I know what are they for? Thank you!

    Reply

  121. Hi I need help on how to write my last name in alibata. My last name is Velasco.

    Thank you so much!

    Reply

  122. Hi! I was wondering if you could help me translate my last name to alibata. My last name’s Velasco. Thank you!

    Reply

  128. Hi Mr. Kristian Kabuay
    Will you help me translate these names
    Im planning to have the names of my parents and siblings as a tattoo but I find it hard translating them on my own.
    Here are their names
    Ma. Remedios
    Moanna Zidane
    Ma. Iris Bernadette
    Cristian John
    Grendel Ellis
    The cristian is my dads name, it really goes as Cristian not christian.
    Your tanslation woulb be very much appreciated

    Reply

  131. So how do you determine what works for the exceptions? My friends name is Brandon so I thought it would be Ba-do but seeing that CRuz and CHRistian are Ka-du/ru and ka-di/ri, would my friends name be Ba-da/ra-do? Does it become an exception if too much of the name is lost? I’m sorry i’m just confused as to what indicates that you don’t need to drop some of the letters because of the typical V and CV format in baybayin.

    Reply

  135. How would you translate 3 letters words, like Kim, Boy or one pronounce names. Should it be Ke/Ki-M or Bo-Y ? I’m confused. Thanks for the help.

    Reply

    • kung tatanungin nyo po ako katulad ng iba kung nasubukan ko ng gawin, ang sagot ko po ay hndi pa. kasi po nahihirapan po akong itranslate sa baybayin ang full name ko po.
      sana po itranslate nyo po ang full name ko sa baybayin. Maraming Salamat po.

      Reply

  144. Sir ask ko lang if tama to.
    And planning sana nagpatattoo,

    Alfonso – A-Po-So – ᜀᜉᜓᜐᜓ
    Austin – O-Ti-N – ᜂᜆᜒᜈ᜔

    Tama ba sir?

    Reply

  158. Can you help me , translate the names of my wife Rochelle, and my daughters anjhela,and anjdrea in ancient filipino alibata, thanks a lot..

    Reply

  160. Sir gud pm po. Can you translate my wife ang kids name? Naka sked po kasi ako ng tats bukas para po mai compare ko kung tama ang translation ng friend ko.Their names are Jane, Marticia and Mikovmari. Thanks!

    Reply

  162. Hello,

    I have a question and that is if it’s possible to translate my name into baybayin? It’s for a tattoo.
    My name is: Alexander

    Reply

  184. Idol pa Translate naman yung naman
    na LANIE in baybayin .. papatattoo ko kasi yan sa birthday ng nililigawan ko ..
    Sana mabasa mo to Salamat

    Reply

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