Who is the Philippines named after?

In 1543, before a permanent Spanish colony had been settled on the islands, explorer Ruy López de Villalobos presumptuously named the two islands of Leyte and Samar as Las Islas Filipinas (The Philipine Islands). Over the next 300 years, the Spanish would colonize the additional islands we now know as the Philippines. read more

The Philippines was named in the late 1500s after Philip, Prince of Asturias (1527–1598), later Philip II of Spain and other territories (1556–1598). In addition to the Philippines, the islands have historically had numerous other names. read more