Choosing a baby name can certainly be tough, and every parent has their own baby name story. Parents often check list after list, looking for the spark of an idea that leads to the perfect name.
Of course, there are a lot of factors to weigh when choosing a name. Are you looking to honor certain members of your family? Or are you looking to celebrate different parts of your family culture and history?
Depending on your naming preferences and your family history, you might consider using a Hispanic boy name. And there are plenty of amazing ones to choose from.
Some are 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 unique 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 having a boy? We have a guide to beautiful Hispanic girl names, too.)
These are some of the most popular names of the year.
One of the most fun things about the Social Security Administration (SSA) is that it keeps a list of the most popular baby names every year. These names, which are either Spanish or Latin in origin, are among the Top 100 most-used names for baby boys.
- Oliver
- Lucas
- Sebastian
- Mateo
- Julian
- Anthony
- Leo
- Christopher
- Santiago
- Angel
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 of 2019 — the most recent year available — were: Sebastian, Liam, Ian, Dylan, Mateo, Thiago, Lucas, Adrian, Noah and Matías.
BabyCenter offers more sources for inspiration.
If you're on the hunt for a baby name, BabyCenter is often one of the first places to look. It also keeps track of the most popular names among its users, which may be a little more up-and-coming than the SSA list. It also has 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 baby names for boys.
- Mateo
- Santiago
- Matías
- Sebastián
- Liam
- Thiago
- Lucas
- Benjamín
- Nicolás
- Emiliano
- Samuel
- Gael
- Joaquín
- Leonardo
- Felipe
- Martín
- Alejandro
- Tomás
- Daniel
- Bruno
- Diego
- Gabriel
- Emmanuel
- Ethan
- Julián
The site also flagged a few up-and-comers that didn't crack the top 25, but are gaining in popularity: Rodrigo, Enzo, León, Simón, Valentín, Erick, Andrés, Elian, Jacob, Camilo, Marcelo, Esteban, Alessandro, Mauricio and Gaspar.
Look to Mexico and Spain for more boy names.
Pampers compiled a list of the most popular baby names in Mexico in 2019. These names hit that sweet spot, in that they're certainly names people have heard of before, but they aren't seen on every cubby and backpack in the United States yet.
- Juan
- Luis
- José
- Antonio
- Jesús
- Miguel
- Pedro
- Manuel
- Carlos
- Roberto
- Fernando
- Jorge
- Ricardo
- Eduardo
- Javier
- Rafael
- Raúl
- Arturo
- Marco
- Enrique
- Gerardo
- Mario
- Alfredo
- Sergio
- Armando
- Salvador
- Víctor
- Óscar
- Guillermo
- Ramón
And while there's plenty of overlap, Nameberry, another baby-naming website, noted the most popular baby names in Spain.
- Hugo
- Pablo
- Alvaro
- Izan
- Alex
- Dario
- Hector
- Iker
- Ivan
- Aitor
Place names are hot.
When Nameberry looked back on the baby-naming trends of 2020, 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 times on this list. But, if you're looking for other destination-inspired monikers, try one of these names.
- Cali
- Cristobal
- Francisco
- Galo
- Laredo
- Madrid
- Melo
- Navarro
- Paz
- Rio
If these don't give you inspiration for a baby name, they surely make you want to go book a trip!
