Tracing Ancestry

I like hanging out with elders. I find their stories interesting and they usually have answers to questions. One of the questions I ask is about ancestry. I don't know much about my own ancestry. I only know the names of my great grandparents and some stuff like what they did for a living and where they were originally (not all of them) but nothing more than that. Unfortunately, even the elders only know a little too.

Someone should have written something before. However, it is understandable why no one keeps a record of such information in the family. Oral tradition is the norm. Even the dialect spoken at home and the major language in the region are not learned formally in school. Some ancient words are not currently used and are feared to be extinct. 

I am aware that people should live in the present and not in the past. However, I am curious. I am not sure if both surnames of my parents are included in the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos, the book of surnames created during the time of Spanish Governor General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa in the Philippines. They are not common in other parts of the country unlike other Filipino surnames. If other people use it in Metro Manila for instance, it is likely that their ancestors came from the same island as mine.

I did some research before when I had time and found out that my maternal grandfather's quite unique surname (the one my mother used before she married my father) is Sanskrit in origin. It is not only used in the Philippines (those I know who use the last name are from one Philippine island only) but also in Europe (mostly in France, Croatia, Slovakia, Germany and Hungary) and North America (found some immigration records from Europe to the US in the 19th century). Known records in the Philippines date back to the 18th century.  I have no idea if these people are one way or another connected to each other. If in case there is a connection, where is their original homeland? I fear there is no answer to that question. My mother looks like other Southeast Asian women though I have aunts who look more Middle Eastern especially when they were younger. She has natural light complexion, which she inherited from her paternal grandmother (little is known about her ancestry too). 

If I'll have enough time in the future, I'll do more research about my father's ancestry as well. I did some before, but the origin of his surname was more difficult to trace. Another thing that is a big question mark for me is my maternal grandmother's ancestry. She looks East Asian (at least her eyes). I had the chance to ask her last summer, but she had little information too. 

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9/10. World Suicide Prevention Day