Laguna de bay

Laguna de Bay was named by the Spanish colonizers after the town of Bay (Bae) in Laguna, which was the seat of ancient Tagalog nobility.

Bay is pronounced as "Ba-ee" with accent on the second Spanish syllable "y".

Laguna is Spanish for lake.

Laguna de Bay means "The Lake of Bay" in Francisco Baltazar’s "Florante at Laura": "…ang Lawa ng Bae".

The province of Laguna was named after the Laguna de Bay, the body of water that forms its northern boundary.

The town of Bay (Bae), which was once the province’s capital, is one of the oldest towns of Laguna.

This town was inhabited by settlers headed by Datu Gat Pangil and was founded sometime in 1570.

The name Bae was said to have been derived from Datu Pangil’s three daughters. After they were baptized, they were named Maria Basilisa, Maria Angela, and Maria Elena. The first letters of Basilisa, Angela, Elena were taken together and read BAE. Over a period of time, Bae became Bay.