Noble surnames, such as Rosales, evoke images of the ancient homeland of Spaniards. They were born, lived and owned land in a beautiful region of Spain. Hereditary surnames during the late Middle Ages were taken from localities, originally denoting a village or estate. The Rosales family lived in a place where wild rose (Rosa in Latin) flowers grew in abundance.
The Catálogo Alfabético De Apellidos (Alphabetial Catalogue of Surnames also called 'Last Names') was published by Spain in 1849 for the Philippines and East Indies, listing 60,000 surnames. It decreed upon their colonies, the Philippine Islands being one, that those without a surname must choose one from the published Spanish surnames. Families whose surnames were unacceptable for whatever reason had no choice but to accept the surname assigned to them.
A surname was only given to one family per municipality or family's origin to avoid being associated with an ethnic background or group affiliation. Surnames starting with "A" were distributed to provincial capitals. "B" surnames were given to secondary towns while tertiary towns received "C" surnames. Some groups were exempted from choosing new surnames such as those with a surname (indigenous or foreign) already on the list. Names that must changed are those of ethnic origin (i.e. one-word name) or being too common like Santos, Cruz, Gracias etc. or religious connotation.
Therefore, a Spanish surname like Rosales does not necessarily indicate Spanish ancestry, which makes it difficult to accurately trace family lineage. The Rosales in Samar, Philippines in 2019 began in earnest to locate the whereabouts of their ancestors and descendants all over the world.
Our Rosales ancestors immigrated from Spain and their earliest descendant on record was Hermenegildo 'Edoy' Trani Rosales who was born in 1838, in Carigara, Leyte, Philippines. Along with his brother Juan Rosales Trani and sister Cecilia Rosales Trani, they migrated to Calbayog, Samar, Philippines. Edoy was in Spain's bad boy list under his real last (surname) name of Trani for some unknown reason but his romantic proclivities may have run afoul with some jealous authorities. So, upon settling in Calbayog, Edoy changed his last name from Trani to his mother's maiden, Rosales thus becoming legally, Hermenegildo Trani Rosales. But his brother and sister who were supposedly trouble-free kept their legal last name of Trani.
Edoy, by the time of his passing at the age of 79 years in 1917 had 5 legal wives and as rumors had it, a few remained unrecorded. He had 22 children, 84 grandchildren by the age of 59 years, 236 Great Grandchildren by the age of 78 years. In 1942, which would have been his 104th birthday, he had produced 363 descendants.
Any EDIT is welcomed