Etymology

Pronounced [san-di-ye’-go], the family was named after Saint James — most likely, Saint James the Greater (not St. James the Evangelist), who brought Christianity to Spain and is the nation’s patron saint.

The spelling variations of this surname include Santiago, de Santiago, Santyago, de Santyago, Sandiego, San Jaime, Yago, Yagüe, Yague, Yagües, Yagues, Yáguez, among others.

This name was first found in Galicia, an important Christian kingdom of medieval Spain.

Background

The San Diego’s ancestral home is Obando, Bulacan, Philippines; where the earliest known patriarch, Roque de San Diego was born in the late 17oo’s.

Family Tree

Generation-Name-Dates
1 de San Diego, Roque (approx 1770 - unknown)
.. +Bernardo, Ana
.. 2 de San Diego, Antonio Bernardo (approx 1790 - unknown)
….. +Candelaria, Dorothea de la Concepcion
….. 3 de San Diego, Roman Candelaria
…….. +de Roxas, Placida
…….. 4 San Diego, Rafael Roxas
……….. +Avendaño Juana de la Cruz
……….. 5 San Diego, Alejandra Avendaño
……….. 5 San Diego, Carolina Avendaño
……….. 5 San Diego, Gregorio Avendaño
……….. 5 San Diego, Mariano Avendaño (unknown - 1897)
……………+Yap, Maria Florido (1857 - 1947)
…………… 6 Sandiego, Antonio Yap (1881 - 1957)
…………….. +Alcoseba, Concepcion Barcenilla (1884 - 1972)
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Mercedes Alcoseba (1908 - 1995)
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Pilar Alcoseba
………………. +Lopez, Paulino Hermosisima
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Mariano Alcoseba (1912 - 1993)
………………. +Noel, Vicenta Cuico
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Soledad Alcoseba (1915 - 1996)
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Vicenta Alcoseba (1917 - 1990)
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Rafael Alcoseba (1919 - 2001)
………………. +Mancao, Luz Panuncialman
…………… 6 Sandiego, Lucio Yap
…………….. +Chiong, Dulcesima Corro
…………… 6 Sandiego, Narciso Yap (1884 - unknown)
…………….. +Ybañez, Urbana Alivio
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Narciso Jr Ybañez
………………. +Monares, Leticia Arellano
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Editha Ybañez
………………. +Fermin, Fernando
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Oscar Ybañez
………………. +Ruiz, Judith
…………….. 7 Sandiego, George Ybañez
………………. +Monares, Tita Arellano
…………… 6 Sandiego, Pedro Yap (1892 - 1970)
…………….. +Ybañez, Juliana Novio (1898 - 1976)
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Socorro Ybañez
………………. +Maravilla, Romeo Barrios
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Celestino Ybañez
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Teresita Ybañez
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Florentina Ybañez
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Dolores Ybañez
………………. +Argawanon, Antonio Condor
…………… 6 Sandiego, Marcial Yap (1894 - unknown)
…………….. +Carampanata, Maria (1894 - unknown)
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Leo Carampanata
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Lily Carampanata
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Espring Carampanata
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Eusebio Carampanata
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Diza Carampanata
…………….. 7 Sandiego, Rudy Carampanata
…………… 6 Sandiego, Esperanza Yap (1898 - unknown)
……….. 5 San Diego, Maximo Avendaño
……….. 5 San Diego, Mena Avendaño (1870 - unknown)
…….. 4 San Diego, Gregoria Roxas (1837 - unknown)
…….. 4 San Diego, Teodoro Roxas (1839 - unknown)
……….. +Alverto, Dominga Cecuba
……….. +Calayag, Candida Lopez (1844 - 1900)
……….. 5 San Diego, Benito Calayag (1870 - 1944)
………….. +De Leon, Sinforosa (1880 - 1941)
………….. 6 San Diego, Cecilio De Leon (1901 - unknown)
…………….. +Templado, Maria
…………….. +Cordero, Socorro
………….. 6 San Diego, Eliodora De Leon (1907 - unknown)
…………….. +De la Cruz, Miguel
………….. 6 San Diego, Nicanor De Leon (1908 - 1992)
…………….. +Porcincula, Eugenia De Leon (1910 - 1962)
…………….. +Voltz, Catalina (1915 - 1994)
………….. 6 San Diego, Macaria De Leon (1915 - 1985)
…………….. +San Gabriel, Jovito (1913 - 1978)
………….. 6 San Diego, Brigida De Leon
…………….. +Forbes, Vicente
………….. 6 San Diego, Modesta De Leon (1922 - unknown)
…………….. +David, Jose
………….. 6 San Diego, Concordia De Leon (1924 - 2005)
……….. 5 San Diego, Fortunato Calayag
…………. +Santiago, Andrea de los Santos
……….. 5 San Diego, Santiago Calayag (1870 - unknown)
……….. 5 San Diego, Valentin Calayag
…………. +Cuerpo, Leoncia Domingo
.. +Candelaria, Andrea [2nd partner of de San Diego, Roque]
.. 2 de San Diego, Francisco Candelaria
….. +Josefa, Francisca

Resources

- Complete San Diego Family Tree - Email me

Notes

1. Defining the link between the Sandiego’s of Cebu and the San Diego’s of Obando was made possible by the efforts of Valentin Mancao Sandiego and Peary Aleonar Jr reaching out to the creator of this site. Thanks, Val and Vip!

2. Another batch of warm thanks to Peary Aleonar Jr (again) who is responsible for providing considerable genealogical data on the Sandiego’s of Cebu.

The Yap-Sandiego Heritage House is a 298-square-meter balay nga bato og kahoy (house of wood and stone) located at the corner of Mabini and Lopez-Jaena Streets in the Parian district of Cebu City. It was built sometime between 1675 and 1700 and is one of the oldest existing residential structures in the Philippines.

Spouses Juan Yap and Maria Florido, its earliest known occupants, passed on the property to the Yap siblings: Maria, Eleuterio, and Consolacion. The eldest daughter, Maria Florido Yap, married Mariano Avendaño San Diego in the 1880s.

The house was crafted from narra and other hardwood and roofed with wooden tiles. Typical houses in the Pari-an district were “substantial stone-and-wood houses that followed a distinct pattern: the solid, permanent-looking structure fronting the street, the bodega ground floor and the upper-floor living quarters with the often excessively large rooms, wide windows and azoteas that responded to the need for ventilation and the impulse toward gracious display… that spoke of the Hispanified lifestyle of the local principalia,” writes noted Cebuano scholar Resil Mojares.

As the business center of Cebu in the late 19th century, the Pari-an district morphed into the most prestigious section of the city, where the founding families of Cebu, mestizos of Chinese and Spanish origin, lived and worked. The area was exclusive and patriarchal — its inhabitants dominating the socio-commercial activities of the growing city. In recent history, the Yap-Sandiego house was used as a boarding house for students of nearby schools and universities. It was passed onto noted Cebuano choreographer and art collector Valentin Mancao Sandiego and his wife Ofelia Pacina Zozobrado in 2003. The house is now undergoing careful renovation and outfitting for a museum and art gallery.

Resources

- Brainard, Cecilia M. “An Ancestral House for Many Seasons.” Date published: 18 Jan 2008. Date accessed: 31 Aug 2008.

- Newman, Jenara Regis. “Romance with the Past.” Sun Star Cebu. Date published: 31 Aug 2008. Date accessed: 31 Aug 2008.

- Sancover, Arnold Carl F. “San Diego-Yap House (Cebu City).” Heritage Conservation Society. Date published: 2 Jan 2007. Date accessed: 31 Aug 2008.

- Sancover, Arnold Carl F. “Yap-Sandiego House.” The Heritage of Cebu. Date published: 30 Dec 2006. Date accessed: 31 Aug 2008.

Of Obando, Bulacan, Philippines

Mariano Avendaño San Diego was born to Rafael Roxas San Diego and Juana dela Cruz Avendaño of Obando, Bulacan. According to oral narratives, he went to the Visayas together with a priest who was assigned to serve in Pari-an, Cebu in the 1880s; and married Maria Yap (1857 - 1947) soon after. The couple made their home in what is now known as the Yap-Sandiego Heritage House.

Mariano served as a cabeza of the Gremios de Mestizos in the Pari-an district of Cebu. According to interment records, he died de muerte repentina (of sudden death) in 1897. His remains are buried in Carcar, Cebu.

Etymology

Pronounced [por-sing’-ku-la], the family name is a derivative of “portiuncula”. This word is a likely abbreviation of the Italian phrase “porzione piccola” or “tiny portion”.

Portiuncula is a chapel (also called St. Mary of the Angels) near Assisi, Italy where St. Francis began the Franciscan order in the thirteenth century.

The Portiuncula Indulgence is the first plenary indulgence that was ever sanctioned by the Catholic Church. The indulgence grants to he who visits a church on August 2 and confesses his sins with a contrite heart, freedom from all temporal punishments and purity as after holy baptism. The indulgence was named after the church where St. Francis’ apparitions prodded him to gain Pope Honorius III’s approval.

In 1769, a Spanish expedition in California came across a river that they named El Rio de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula or “the River of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula.” Twelve years later, 12 families settled in the area and named their community El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, after the nearby river. In later years, the city became known as Los Angeles.

Background

The line, as we know it, originates from San Bartolome, Malabon, Philippines — where Cirilo Porcincula was born. At the time, Malabon was within the jurisdiction of the province of Rizal. Physical features of the clan indicate a likely Chinese lineage.

A Porcincula female married in to the San Diego Family in 1933.

Family Tree

Generation-Name-Dates
1 Porcioncula, Juan
.. +Gotodejo, Dominga
.. 2 Porcioncula, Cirilo Gotodejo
…. +de la Cruz, Pascuala
…. 3 Porcincula, Apolonio de la Cruz
…… +De Leon, Cirila Concepcion
…… 4 Porcincula, Sergio De Leon (1903 - 1977)
……… +Navarro, Carmen (1907 - 1987)
……….. 5 Porcincula, Teodora Navarro
……….. 5 Porcincula, Felipe Navarro
……….. 5 Porcincula, Sergio Navarro
……….. + Campos, Lydia T
……….. 5 Porcincula, Guillerma Navarro
……….. + Gulamgam, Jose
……….. + Lawsin, Vicente Avestruz
…….4 Porcincula, Eugenia De Leon (1910 - 1962)
……… +San Diego, Nicanor de Leon (1910 - 1992)
……… continued in The San Diego Family
…… 4 Porcincula, Salud De Leon
……… + Satparam, Juanito
………… 5 Satparam, Juanita Porcincula
………… 5 Satparam, Danny Porcincula
………… 5 Satparam, Doris Porcincula

Resources

- Complete Porcincula Family Tree - Email me