Cities and Other "Place" Names Are Especially Popular for Baby Boys

Marisa LaScala
·5 min read

Parents have a lot of factors to consider when choosing a baby boy name. Should they choose a name that's one of the most popular baby names for boys, or go for something unique and unusual? Is there a family member they want to honor? Or do they want to spotlight a certain aspect of their cultural heritage?

If you're looking for a baby boy name, depending on your preferences and your family history, you might consider using a Hispanic boy name. And if you are, you're in luck: There are plenty of amazing ones to choose from.

So many options, in fact, that you may need some help sorting through the options. One helpful thing to do would be combing through the most popular Hispanic boy names looking for inspiration (or names to eliminate). Some of these already hitting the lists of the most popular baby names of the United States. Others are trendy in places like Mexico or Spain, but haven't become ubiquitous here, so your baby can be extra special among his classmates. We found a few more that are flying under-the-radar, and still others that are inspired by travels around the globe. No matter which one you pick, you'll have a lucky little guy.

Not what you're looking for? Check out the lists of Hispanic girl names, Irish boy names, Irish girl names, Indian boy names, Indian girl names or gender-neutral, unisex names for even more baby-name inspiration.

These are some of the most popular names of the year.

The website of the Social Security Administration (SSA) is full of useful information — including data about the most-often-used baby names, which gives you an induction of how popular each name is. These names, which are either Spanish or Latin in origin, are among the Top 100 most-used names for baby boys in 2022.

  1. Lucas

  2. Mateo

  3. Sebastian

  4. Leo

  5. Julian

  6. Anthony

  7. Christopher

  8. Santiago

  9. Angel

  10. Roman

As an interesting point of comparison, the SSA also keeps a separate list of the most popular names in Puerto Rico. While not all of these are Spanish or Latin in origin, the most popular names were: Liam, Thiago, Sebastian, Noah, Dylan, Mateo, Lucas, Adrian, Ian and Jayden (which knocked Matías out of the top 10). Parents who want a name that's not so out-of-left-field that nobody has heard of it before can look to these names, since they're likely to be all over cubbies in daycares and elementary schools.

BabyCenter offers more sources for inspiration.

BabyCenter is often a go-to for parents looking for baby-name inspiration. It also keeps track of the most popular names among its users, which may be a little more up-to-date than the SSA list, which has to wait until the end of each year to compile its most recent data. It also has a Spanish-language site, BabyCenter en Español, which, according to the site, is used by Hispanic parents in the United States and in 22 Spanish-speaking countries. When BabyCenter en Español polled its users, these were the most popular names that haven't already appeared on either of the above lists from the SSA.

  1. Emiliano

  2. Benjamín

  3. Samuel

  4. Felipe

  5. Gael

  6. Joaquín

  7. Tomás

  8. Alejandro

  9. Nicolás

  10. Leonardo

  11. Martín

  12. Bruno

  13. Diego

  14. Daniel

  15. Maximiliano

  16. Gabriel

  17. Emmanuel

  18. Agustín

  19. Lorenzo

  20. Emilio

  21. Luca

  22. Valentino

  23. Dante

  24. Isaac

  25. Salvador

  26. Bautistan

  27. David

  28. Aarón

  29. Rodrigo

  30. Enzo

The site also flagged a few up-and-comers that didn't crack the top 30, but are gaining in popularity: Bautista (as in Guardians of the Galaxy star David Bautista), Benicio (like The Last Jedi's Benicio del Toro), Santino, Máximo, Rafael, Damián, Alexander, Antonio, Áxel, and Tadeo. So, if you're looking for up-and-coming trends, look to the celebs: Will Diego, as in Diego Luna of Andor, continue to climb the charts?

Look to Mexico and Spain for more boy names.

Names.org looked south and compiled a list of the most popular Mexican names among Americans. (The lust also includes names of Aztec/Nahuatl origin.) When we removed anything from the SSA or BabyCenter lists, these were the names that rose to the top.

  1. Juan

  2. Carlos

  3. Luis

  4. Jesus

  5. Miguel

  6. Edgar

  7. Ricardo

  8. Eduardo

  9. Andres

  10. Raul

  11. Ramon

  12. Erick

  13. Julio

  14. Arturo

  15. Gerardo

  16. Ernesto

  17. Alfonso

  18. Gustavo

  19. Rodolfo

  20. Adan

  21. Gilberto

  22. Cruz

  23. Guadalupe

  24. Rogelio

  25. Noe

  26. Reynaldo

  27. Efrain

  28. Carmen

  29. Humberto

  30. Adolfo

Not to be outdone, Nameberry, another website devoted to all things baby names (including origins and meanings), made a list of the most popular baby names in Spain. These were the most popular names we haven't included in other lists already.

  1. Hugo

  2. Pablo

  3. Alvaro

  4. Mario

  5. Oliver

  6. Alex

  7. Marco

  8. Gonzalo

  9. Marcos

  10. Izan

  11. Javier

  12. Sergio

  13. Eric

  14. Jorge

  15. Dario

  16. Hector

  17. Iker

  18. Pau

  19. Guillermo

  20. Jaime

These names haven't yet hit the tops of the charts in the United States yet, so they're good for parents who are looking for something unique or unusual.

Place Names Are Hot

When Nameberry looked back on the recent baby-naming trends, it found that naming kids after cities, states and countries was a huge trend. Certainly, Santiago — as in Santiago, Chile — fits the bill, and it's already popped up a couple of times on this list. But, if you're looking for other destination-inspired monikers, try one of these names.

  1. Cali

  2. Cristobal

  3. Francisco

  4. Galo

  5. Laredo

  6. Madrid

  7. Melo

  8. Navarro

  9. Paz

  10. Rio

If these don't give you inspiration for a baby name, they surely make you want to go book a trip!

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