Riototar

Riototar (also Riotutar, Reotutar, and Retutar) is an extremely rare Filipino surname used mainly in the island of Luzon, Philippines since the eighteenth (18th) century. Of the handful of the present-day Riototars (Reotutars), most reside in the city of Vigan and in the towns of Santa Catalina and San Vicente in the province of Ilocos Sur.
Introductory facts
*Etymology = Combination of the Spanish word ‘rio’ (river), and ‘totar’ (origin unknown, but possibly a localization of the Spanish word ‘topar’ or ‘to run into, to meet’)
* Use = as surname/family name
* Place of Origin = Luzon, Philippines
* Variations = Riotutar, Reotutar, Retutar, Reototar.
Historical origin
On 12 June 1572, the Spaniards, under the command of Captain Juan de Salcedo, arrived in what is now the modern-day city of Vigan. At the time, Vigan was virtually an island, ‘detached’ from the Ilocos Mainland by the Abra, Mestizo and Govantes rivers, and their various tributaries and sub-tributaries.
One of the sub-tributaries of the Abra River was called ‘Rio Totar’, as per local oral tradition. Rio Totar is also used to describe the early settlement at the banks of the said tributary. However, the exact location of this ‘Rio Totar’ at present is not known, as the drastic changes in Abra River’s course over the centuries has caused the original course of the river to shift and most of its tributaries to vanish. Rio Totar is thus considered a lost toponym and cannot be found in modern-day maps.
However, local tradition places the location of the original Rio Totar to the North of the present-day Govantes River (which course has also changed). The barrios of Cabaroan, Pangada, and Cabuloan of Sta. Catalina town are situated in this fabled site. Incidentally, the aforementioned barrios have at present a fair number of inhabitants surnamed ‘Reotutar.’
On 21 November 1849, Governor General Narciso Clavería ordered a systematic distribution of family names for the native Filipinos to use. This was brought about mainly by the fact that Filipinos at that time did not use surnames or family names. Thus, the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos was issued, containing at least 70,000 approved names to be assigned to families in all Philippine towns. Name distribution was systematic, in that every town was ‘assigned’ a particular letter in the alphabet, and all inhabitants thereof were compelled to adopt surnames beginning with that letter.
Santa Catalina town was assigned the letter “R”, hence the inhabitants thereof had to assume “R” surnames in the Catalogo, such as Ragasa, Rapisura, Rafanan, Real, and Refuerzo.
Some of the families living in the 'Rio Totar' settlement, however, wished to adopt “Rio Totar” or “Riototar” as their surnames. This posed a problem as “Riototar” was not listed as an acceptable surname in the Catalogo. The predicament was remedied when the people were allowed by the local government, through the intercession of the parish priest, to register under that name.
Variations
Much to their chagrin, many ‘Riototars’ discovered that they were registered either as ‘Reotutar’ or ‘Riotutar’. The misspelling, which was brought about by the utter lack of systematized record-keeping at that time, remained uncorrected. Hence, most modern-day descendants of the original ‘Riototars’ are actually surnamed ‘Reotutar’ or ‘Riotutar’.
The confusion brought about by the introduction of the new lexicographic variants and the difficulty of spelling and pronouncing the surname, coupled by the migration of some ‘Riototars’ to other parts of the country, resulted in the many variations of the name that exist today. However, the surnames ‘Riotutar’, ‘Reotutar’, ‘Retutar’ and even ‘Retuta’, are still very much traceable to the original surname ‘Riototar’. All these surnames mean People of the Fabled Tributary of Rio Totar.

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