Diokno is a Filipino surname that originated from Indang, Cavite and Taal, Batangas area. It was changed to a more Filipino surname from the original Hispanized surname, "Diocno". Ángel Diokno (born c. 1830) is the oldest known patriarch of the immediate family of Gen. Ananías Diokno (son of Ángel). Although the Diokno family members are primarily prevalent in the Philippines,[1] there are significant numbers of people with this surname in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other countries.[2] Through marriages the Diokno clan is also interrelated with multiple historical figures, such as public servants Justice Francis Garchitorena, Corazon Aquino (sixth cousin twice removed of Jose W. Diokno through the Sumulong clan), and Governor-General Félix Berenguer de Marquina y Fitzgerald, who is the namesake of Marikina.
Family of Ananías Diokno
Because of the Irish ancestry of Berenguer de Marquina coming from the noble Fitzgerald clan, he descends from some Norman French or English, and European nobles such as Saint Begga of Belgium by forty degrees. St. Begga is the great-great grandmother of King Charlemagne and daughter-in-law to St. Arnulf of Metz, France. The great-great grandson of Berenguer de Marquina is Ananías Diokno, who also descends from William Boleyn, who is the grandfather of Elizabeth I of England. Berenguer de Marquina had an illegitimate Chinese mestiza daughter from Cagsawa, Albay who married a Spanish-Mexican public servant surnamed Sauza, whose daughter settled in Taal, Batangas, marrying a member of the Tagalog Noblejas clan. Their daughter María Andrea Noblejas y Sauza (born c. 1834), who descended from Berenguer de Marquina, became part of the Diokno family by marrying Ángel Diokno (born c. 1830). Because of the Fitzgerald clan, the line at least starting Ananías Diokno y Noblejas can trace its roots to nobles, public servants, soldiers, and saints from the first century A.D.[3][4]
Notable members of the main branch of the Ananías Diokno family include:
- Ananías Diokno, (1860-1922), son of Ángel Diokno, Filipino general and early patriarch of the family
- Ramón Diokno, (1886-1954), son of Ananías, Filipino justice and senator
- Jose W. Diokno, (1922-1987), third son and sixth child of Ramón Diokno and Leonor Garcia Wright, Filipino nationalist and senator.
- Carmen Leonor "Mench" Diokno-Escay, (born February 12, 1950), eldest child of Jose, Filipino NGO worker and UP Diliman valedictorian
- Maris Diokno, (born August 1954), fourth child and third daughter of Jose, Filipino national historian
- Maria Teresa "Maitet" Diokno-Pascual, fifth child and fourth daughter of Jose, national economist from the London School of Economics and Finance Officer of Sa Uma
- Ma. Soccoro Cookie Diokno, sixth child and fifth daughter of Jose, Secretary-General of the Free Legal Assistance Group
- Jose Manuel I. Chel Diokno, (born 1961), eighth child and third son of Jose, Filipino law school dean
- Pepe Diokno (born 1987), eldest child of Chel, Filipino director
