Hispanic Boy Names: 110 Spanish Names

Hispanic boy names run from classics like Mateo, Santiago, Sebastián and Diego to strong old names like Rodrigo and Álvaro and short picks like Luis and Hugo, and this list gives a checked usage and meaning for 110 Spanish names for boys, plus 20 Nahuatl, Mayan, Quechua, Mapuche, Basque, Catalan and Galician names.

Spanish names for boys come from several places. Many are the Spanish forms of names known across Europe (Mateo, Juan, Nicolás). Some are far older, traced by the reference to Gothic and Visigothic names (Rodrigo, Alfonso, Ramiro). Others are plain Spanish words with a religious story behind them (Santos, Cruz, Salvador).

We grouped the names by style: classics, short and strong names, unique picks, saint and biblical names, nature and virtue names, double names and nicknames, and names that work in English and Spanish. Mexican boy names get their own section, and so do names from Indigenous languages and from Basque, Catalan and Galician. This is the brother page to our Hispanic girl names list.

Key Takeaways

Familiar Spanish boy names include Mateo, Santiago, Sebastián, Alejandro, Diego, José, Juan and Luis.
Mateo ranked No. 8 and Lucas No. 10 among U.S. boys born in 2025, and both entries list Spanish usage.
Many strong Spanish names are very old: Rodrigo comes from a name meaning “famous ruler”, Alfonso from one meaning “noble and ready”, and Lope from the Roman name for “wolf”.
Most Mexican boy names are Spanish names; Cuauhtemoc, Itzcoatl and Tonatiuh are Nahuatl names, not Spanish ones.
Accent marks are part of the Spanish spelling, but U.S. paperwork does not always carry them, so decide early how you will write the name.

Table of Contents

Hispanic Boy Names at a Glance

Quick Answer

Standout Hispanic boy names: Mateo, Santiago, Sebastián, Alejandro, Diego and Joaquín (familiar classics); Luis, Hugo, Teo, Blas and Eloy (short); Rodrigo, Álvaro, Gonzalo and Íñigo (strong, old names); Pablo, Andrés, Tomás and Elías (saint and biblical names); León, Ángel, Cruz and Fidel (nature and virtue); Aurelio, Macario and Ulises (uncommon); Juan Pablo and José Luis (double names).

Every usage label and meaning here was checked against the name’s own entry on Behind the Name in October 2026. Where the reference calls a meaning unknown, uncertain or only possible, we say so, and where it gives no meaning at all, we do not add one.

Start with the classics. Most of them are the Spanish forms of names found all over Europe, which is why Mateo sits next to Matthew and Juan next to John. For ideas beyond Spanish, see our main list of baby boy names.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Mateo	Spanish, Croatian	Spanish form of Matthew, from the Hebrew name Mattithiah: “gift of Yahweh”
Santiago	Spanish, Portuguese	“Saint James”: Spanish santo, “saint”, plus Yago, an old Spanish form of James, the patron saint of Spain
Sebastián	Spanish, Czech	Form of Sebastianus: Latin, “from Sebaste”, a city whose name comes from Greek sebastos, “venerable”
Alejandro	Spanish	Spanish form of Alexander: Greek, “defending men”
Diego	Spanish, Italian	Possibly a shortened form of Santiago; written Didacus in medieval Latin records, perhaps from Greek didache, “teaching”
José	Spanish, Portuguese, French	Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph: Hebrew, “he will add”
Juan	Spanish, Manx	Form of Iohannes, the Latin form of John: Hebrew, “Yahweh is gracious”
Carlos	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Charles: from a Germanic word meaning “man”; another theory links it to a word for “army”
Miguel	Spanish, Portuguese, Galician	Form of Michael: Hebrew, “who is like God?”
Antonio	Spanish, Italian, Croatian	Form of the Roman family name Antonius, which is of unknown Etruscan origin
Francisco	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Franciscus (Francis): Late Latin, “Frenchman”
Javier	Spanish	Spanish form of Xavier: from the Basque place name Etxeberria, “the new house”
Manuel	Spanish, Portuguese, German and more	Spanish and Portuguese form of Emmanuel: Hebrew, “God is with us”
Rafael	Spanish, Portuguese, German and more	Form of Raphael: Hebrew, “God heals”
Joaquín	Spanish	Spanish form of Joachim, a contracted form of the biblical names Jehoiachin or Jehoiakim
Nicolás	Spanish	Spanish form of Nicholas: Greek, “victory of the people”
Emiliano	Spanish, Italian, Portuguese	Form of the Roman name Aemilianus, from the family name Aemilius
Maximiliano	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Maximilianus (Maximilian): from Latin maximus, “greatest”

Classic Spanish names for boys, with the usage label and meaning given by Behind the Name.

Two facts from official lists. Mateo ranked No. 8 among U.S. boys born in 2025, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). In Spain, the national statistics office (INE) shows Mateo as the most frequent name given to newborn boys in 2024, ahead of Hugo.

Hispanic, Latino or Spanish: What the Words Mean

The three words get used as if they were one, so here is how the references we read today separate them. The U.S. Census Bureau follows the federal Office of Management and Budget and uses “Hispanic or Latino” for a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Encyclopaedia Britannica treats Hispanic as the narrower word: it covers Spanish-speaking people from Latin America, the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Spain. Latino is broader in one direction and narrower in another, because it takes in Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken, but leaves out Spain. “Spanish” is the language, or a person from Spain.

Britannica adds two points worth keeping in mind. The words are often used interchangeably, and many people would rather name their own country of origin. For a name list the practical upshot is simple: most Hispanic baby boy names and Latino boy names are Spanish names, which Behind the Name describes as used in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. Names from Indigenous languages, and from the other languages of Spain, are a separate group and get their own tables below.

Short and Strong Spanish Boy Names

Short Spanish boy names are quick to spell and hard to shorten any further. Every name in this first table has three or four letters.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Luis	Spanish	Spanish form of Louis, which goes back to the Germanic name Ludwig: “famous in battle”
Raúl	Spanish	Spanish form of Radulf (see Ralph), which goes back to the Old Norse name Ráðúlfr
Hugo	Spanish, Portuguese, English and more	Old German form of Hugh: from a Germanic word for “mind, thought, spirit”
Iván	Spanish, Hungarian	Spanish and Hungarian form of Ivan
Gael	Breton, English (Modern), Spanish (Modern), Portuguese (Modern)	Probably from the word Gael, which refers to speakers of Gaelic languages
Teo	Spanish, Italian, Croatian and more	Short form of Teodoro and other names that begin with Teo
Eloy	Spanish	Spanish form of Eligius: Late Latin, from eligo, “to choose”
Blas	Spanish	Spanish form of Blaise: from Latin Blasius, probably from a Roman name meaning “lisping, stammering”
Yago	Spanish	Spanish form of Iacobus, the Latin form of James
Ciro	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Cyrus: Old Persian, possibly “young” or “humiliator (of the enemy)”; the origin is uncertain

Short Spanish names for boys.

Looking for strong Spanish boy names? Several of the oldest names in Spanish are traced by the reference to Visigothic or other Germanic names, and their meanings are about rulers, battle and fame. Others come from Greek legend or from medieval Spain. These are also the old, classic Spanish boy names of the history books: Rodrigo was the given name of El Cid, and Alfonso was borne by a long line of kings.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Rodrigo	Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Galician	Form of Roderick: Old German, “famous ruler”; the given name of El Cid, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar
Fernando	Spanish, Portuguese, Italian	Form of Ferdinand: Gothic, “peace” (or perhaps “journey”) plus “boldness, daring”
Leonardo	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Leonard: Old German, “brave lion”
Ricardo	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Richard: Old German, “brave ruler”
Armando	Spanish, Italian, Portuguese	Form of Herman: Old German, “army man”
Héctor	Spanish	Spanish form of Hector: Greek, “holding fast”; the Trojan champion of Greek legend
Álvaro	Spanish, Portuguese	Spanish form of Alvarus, a Latinized Visigothic name: possibly “all” plus “aware, cautious” or “guard”
Gonzalo	Spanish	From the medieval name Gundisalvus, of Germanic origin: “war” plus an uncertain second element
Alfonso	Spanish, Italian	Form of Alphonsus, from a Visigothic name: “noble and ready”; borne by several kings of Spain and Portugal
Ramiro	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Ramirus, a Latinized Visigothic name: “wedge” (or possibly “law, decree”) plus “famous”
Sancho	Spanish, Portuguese	Possibly from Late Latin Sanctius, from sanctus, “saintly, holy”; or from an older Iberian name
Lope	Spanish	Spanish form of the Roman name Lupus: “wolf”
Íñigo	Spanish	Medieval Spanish form of the Basque name Eneko; the birth name of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Hernán	Spanish	Short form of Hernando, the medieval Spanish form of Ferdinand

Strong, old Spanish names for boys.

Notice how honest the reference is about what it does not know: the second half of Gonzalo is uncertain, Sancho is only possibly from a Latin name, and Álvaro has two candidate meanings. For more names with this weathered feel, in any language, see our old-fashioned boy names.

Unique Hispanic Boy Names

Looking for unique Hispanic boy names? These are uncommon or rare in the United States, and each one has its own entry in the reference. Many are the Spanish forms of Greek and Roman names, which gives them clear, old meanings: golden, shining, free, blessed.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Aurelio	Italian, Spanish	Form of Aurelius: a Roman family name from Latin aureus, “golden, gilded”
Macario	Spanish	Spanish form of Macarius, from Greek makar: “blessed, happy”
Fulgencio	Spanish	Spanish form of Fulgentius: Late Latin, “shining”
Nicanor	Ancient Greek (Latinized), Biblical, Spanish and more	Greek: “victory” plus “man”; one of the first seven deacons in the New Testament
Evaristo	Spanish, Italian, Portuguese	Form of Evaristus: Greek, “well pleasing”
Eleuterio	Spanish, Italian	Form of Eleutherius: Greek, “free”
Leandro	Spanish, Portuguese, Italian	Form of Leander: Greek, “lion” plus “man”
Lisandro	Spanish (Latin American), Portuguese	Form of Lysander: Greek, “a release, loosening” plus “man”
Octavio	Spanish	Spanish form of Octavius: from Latin octavus, “eighth”
Ulises	Spanish	Spanish form of Ulysses
Baltasar	Spanish, Biblical Greek	Spanish form of Balthazar; also the form of Belshazzar used in the Greek Old Testament
Cayetano	Spanish	Spanish form of Caietanus (see Gaetano)
Casimiro	Spanish, Portuguese, Italian	Form of Casimir
Wenceslao	Spanish	Spanish form of Václav, through the Latinized form Venceslaus

Unique and rare Spanish names for boys.

Five of the rows (Ulises, Baltasar, Cayetano, Casimiro and Wenceslao) give only the name each one comes from, because that is all the entry says and we did not go looking for a meaning elsewhere. Lisandro is the one name here that the reference tags Spanish (Latin American) rather than plain Spanish.

To see how common a name really is, use the Popularity of a Name search on the SSA baby names page. The SSA does not combine different spellings, and it leaves out names with fewer than 5 occurrences to protect privacy. For more ideas in this style, see our unique boy names.

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Saint and Biblical Names in Their Spanish Forms

A large share of Spanish names for boys are the Spanish forms of names from the Bible and from the calendar of saints. The table gives each form and the meaning of the name behind it, as Behind the Name states them.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Jesús	Spanish, Catalan	Spanish and Catalan form of Jesus, used as a personal name
Pedro	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Peter: Greek petros, “stone”
Pablo	Spanish	Spanish form of Paulus (Paul): Latin, “small”
Andrés	Spanish, Icelandic	Form of Andrew: Greek, “manly, masculine”
Tomás	Spanish, Portuguese, Irish	Form of Thomas: Aramaic, “twin”
Felipe	Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian)	Form of Philip: Greek, “friend of horses”
Marcos	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Marcus (see Mark)
Matías	Spanish	Spanish form of Matthias
Esteban	Spanish	Spanish form of Stephen: Greek, “crown, wreath”
Moisés	Spanish, Portuguese, Biblical Spanish and more	Form of Moses: most likely from Egyptian mes, “son”
Elías	Spanish, Icelandic	Form of Elijah: Hebrew, “my God is Yahweh”
Noé	French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian and more	Form of Noah: Hebrew, “rest, repose”
Ignacio	Spanish	Spanish form of Ignatius: from the Roman family name Egnatius, of unknown meaning; the spelling was later reshaped to resemble Latin ignis, “fire”
Isidro	Spanish	Spanish variant of Isidore: Greek, “gift of Isis”
Fermín	Spanish	Spanish form of Firminus (see Firmin)
Agustín	Spanish	Spanish form of Augustinus (Augustine), a Roman name derived from Augustus

Saint and biblical names in their Spanish forms.

A few notes from the same entries. Jesús is an everyday given name in Spanish. James has more than one Spanish face: Yago is the plain Spanish form, Santiago means “Saint James”, and Diego is possibly a shortened form of Santiago. Íñigo, in the strong names table, was the birth name of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, which is why it is sometimes regarded as a form of Ignatius. And Miguel, Rafael and Gabriel are the names of three archangels.

Many of these names have close cousins in other languages. Compare Pedro, Pablo and Tomás with the forms in our Italian boy names list.

Spanish Names for Boys From Nature and Virtue Words

Nature reaches Spanish names for boys mostly through Latin and Greek roots: a lion, a forest, a hyacinth. Virtue names are more direct: faithful, just, merciful, beloved.

Name	Usage	Meaning
León	Spanish	Spanish form of Leo and Leon: Latin leo, “lion”
Jacinto	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Hyacinthus, a Greek name taken from the hyacinth flower
Silvestre	Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Silvester: Latin, “wooded, wild”, from silva, “wood, forest”
Florencio	Spanish	Spanish form of the Roman name Florentius (see Florence)
Amado	Spanish	Spanish form of Amatus: Late Latin, “beloved”
Fidel	Spanish	From Late Latin Fidelis: “faithful”, from fides, “faith”
Justo	Spanish	Spanish form of Justus: Latin, “just, lawful, upright”
Clemente	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese	Form of Clemens (Clement): Latin, “merciful, gentle”
Félix	French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian	Form of Felix: Latin, “lucky, successful”
Pío	Spanish	Spanish form of Pius: Latin, “pious, dutiful”
Ángel	Spanish	Spanish form of Angelus (Angel): from Greek angelos, “messenger”
Salvador	Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan	From Late Latin Salvator: “savior”, referring to Jesus
Domingo	Spanish	Spanish form of Dominicus (Dominic): Late Latin, “of the Lord”
Santos	Spanish	“Saints”; refers to Día de Todos los Santos, All Saints’ Day, on November 1
Cruz	Spanish, Portuguese (feminine and masculine)	“Cross”, for the cross of the crucifixion

Nature, virtue and religious word names.

More animals hide in the other tables: Lope is “wolf”, Leonardo is “brave lion” and Leandro joins “lion” and “man”. The reference notes that León is also the name of a city and province in Spain, and that the place name has a different origin from the given name. Santos, Cruz and Salvador are religious word names, and Cruz is listed for girls as well as boys.

Double Names and Nicknames: Juan Pablo, Pepe, Paco and More

Double given names are a familiar part of Spanish naming, and Behind the Name gives each of the six below its own entry. Most simply join two names. José María joins the names of the parents of Jesus, and the reference notes that José can also be the second half of a double name, often after María.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Juan Pablo	Spanish	Combination of Juan and Pablo
José Luis	Spanish	Combination of José and Luis
Juan Carlos	Spanish	Combination of Juan and Carlos
Juan José	Spanish	Combination of Juan and José
José María	Spanish	Combination of José and María, the names of the parents of Jesus
Miguel Ángel	Spanish	The Spanish counterpart of Michelangelo; it joins Miguel and Ángel

Spanish double names for boys.

Before you put two names on the form, two rules are worth knowing. Spain’s civil registry law (Ley 20/2011, article 51) caps a child’s given name at two simple names or one compound name. And when the SSA counts names in the United States, it removes hyphens and spaces, so Juan Pablo written with a space, with a hyphen or run together is counted as a single entry.

If you would rather keep the second name as a middle name, our middle names guide covers flow, rhythm and initials.

Spanish nicknames often look nothing like the full name, which is half the fun. Each row repeats what the reference says the nickname is short for.

Nickname	What Behind the Name says it is
Pepe	Spanish diminutive of José
Paco	Diminutive of Francisco
Pancho	Spanish diminutive of Francisco
Nacho	Diminutive of Ignacio
Chuy	Diminutive of Jesús
Toño	Spanish diminutive of Antonio
Manolo	Spanish diminutive of Manuel
Chema	Diminutive of José María or José Manuel
Quique	Diminutive of Enrique
Lalo	Diminutive of Eduardo

Spanish nicknames and short forms for boys.

So a Francisco may well answer to Paco or Pancho, an Ignacio to Nacho and a José to Pepe. Teo, in the short names table, began the same way: it is a short form of longer names that start with Teo. If a nickname would bother you, weigh that before you choose the full name.

Names That Work in English and Spanish

If your family lives in two languages, look for a name that is spelled the same way in both. Behind the Name lists both English and Spanish among the usages of every name below, and none of them needs an accent mark.

Name	Usage	Meaning
Lucas	English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish and more	Latin form of the Greek name Loukas (see Luke)
Daniel	English, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish and more	Hebrew: “God is my judge”
David	English, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Portuguese and more	Hebrew: from dod, “beloved” or “uncle”
Gabriel	French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, English and more	Hebrew: “God is my strong man”
Samuel	English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and more	Hebrew: “name of God”, or by another reading “God has heard”
Isaac	English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French and more	Hebrew: “he will laugh, he will rejoice”

Names used in both English and Spanish.

Lucas ranked No. 10 among U.S. boys born in 2025, according to the SSA. Hugo, from the short names table, also lists both English and Spanish. Other names stay easy to recognize with one small change: Sebastián, Nicolás, Tomás, Andrés and Elías are the Spanish forms of Sebastian, Nicholas, Thomas, Andrew and Elijah.

These six are a good starting point for Spanish baby boy names that grandparents on both sides can spell. Browsing by first letter instead? See our boy names that start with E and boy names that start with L lists.

Mexican Boy Names

Looking for Mexican boy names? Start with the tables above. Mexico is a Spanish-speaking country, and most boys’ names used there are simply Spanish names; Behind the Name describes Spanish names as used in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. None of the boys’ entries we read carries a separate Mexican label, so we have not invented one.

A few entries do mention Mexico. The reference ties Pancho to the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (1878 to 1923) and Diego to the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886 to 1957). Cuauhtémoc is the Spanish spelling of the name of the last Aztec emperor.

That last name points to the second source of Mexican boy names: Nahuatl. Behind the Name says Nahuatl names are used by the Nahua peoples of Mexico and Central America. They are not Spanish names, so they get a table of their own, labelled the way the reference labels them.

Name	Language (per Behind the Name)	Meaning
Cuauhtemoc	Nahuatl	“Descending eagle”, from cuauhtli, “eagle”, and temo, “descend”; the name of the last Aztec emperor
Cuauhtémoc	Nahuatl (Hispanicized)	Spanish form of Cuauhtemoc
Itzcoatl	Nahuatl	“Obsidian snake”; a 15th-century king of Tenochtitlan and the first emperor of the Aztec Empire
Tonatiuh	Aztec and Toltec Mythology, Nahuatl	“Sun”; the Aztec sun god
Ehecatl	Aztec and Toltec Mythology, Nahuatl	“Wind”; the Aztec wind god
Tlaloc	Aztec and Toltec Mythology, Nahuatl	Possibly from Nahuatl tlalloh, “covered with earth”; the Aztec god of rain and fertility

Nahuatl names for boys. These are not Spanish names.

We have left out popularity ranks for Mexico because we did not read an official Mexican list for this article. If a Nahuatl name comes from a community outside your own family, learn how it is said and used before you commit.

Indigenous, Basque, Catalan and Galician Names

Spanish is not the only language of Latin America, and it is not the only language of Spain. The first table holds names from other Indigenous languages, each labelled as the reference labels it. Per Behind the Name, Mayan names are used by the Maya people of Mexico and Central America, Quechua names by the Quechua people of South America, and Mapuche names by the Mapuche people of Chile and Argentina.

Name	Language (per Behind the Name)	Meaning
Balam	Mayan	“Jaguar”
Inti	Quechua, Inca Mythology	“Sun”; the Inca sun god
Amaru	Quechua	“Snake”; borne by two Inca leaders after the Spanish conquest
Túpac	Quechua (Hispanicized)	Spanish form of Tupaq: Quechua, “royal, noble”
Lautaro	Mapuche (Hispanicized), Spanish (Latin American)	Hispanicized form of the Mapuche name Lef-Traru: “swift hawk”; a 16th-century Mapuche military leader in Chile
Nahuel	Mapuche (Hispanicized)	Variant of Nawel written with Spanish spelling: Mapuche, “jaguar”

Mayan, Quechua and Mapuche names for boys. Lautaro also carries the label Spanish (Latin American), so it is counted among the 110 Spanish names.

The second table comes from Spain itself. The reference describes Basque names as used in the Basque Country (northern Spain and southern France), Catalan names as used in Catalonia in eastern Spain and other Catalan-speaking regions, and Galician names as used in Galicia in northwestern Spain. None of these nine entries lists Spanish as a usage, so we keep them apart.

Name	Language (per Behind the Name)	Meaning
Iker	Basque	“Visitation”; coined by Sabino Arana in 1910 as a Basque equivalent of the Spanish name Visitación
Unai	Basque	“Cowherd”
Eneko	Basque	Possibly from Basque ene, “my”, plus the diminutive ending ko; the name of a 9th-century king usually written Íñigo
Jordi	Catalan, Dutch (Modern)	Catalan form of George; Saint George is a patron saint of Catalonia
Pau	Catalan, Occitan	Catalan and Occitan form of Paul; also the Catalan word for “peace”
Oriol	Catalan	From a Catalan surname meaning “golden”; used in honor of Saint Joseph Oriol (1650 to 1702)
Xoán	Galician	Galician form of John
Brais	Galician	Galician form of Blaise
Anxo	Galician	Galician form of Angelus (see Angel)

Basque, Catalan and Galician names for boys. These are not labelled Spanish.

Several are close relatives of names in the Spanish tables. Eneko is the Basque name behind Íñigo. Xoán and Juan are both forms of John, Pau and Pablo of Paul, Brais and Blas of Blaise, and Anxo and Ángel of Angelus.

Accents, Pronunciation and Two Surnames

A few practical notes before you fill in the birth certificate form:

Accent marks: the accent is part of the Spanish spelling of names such as Sebastián, José, Joaquín, Nicolás, Raúl, Iván, Héctor, Álvaro, Jesús, Andrés, Tomás, Matías, Elías, León and Ángel, and Íñigo and Toño carry the letter ñ as well. U.S. paperwork does not always carry accent marks, so ask your hospital or state vital records office what can be printed, and decide how you will write the name everywhere else.
Say it out loud: try the name with your surname in both languages and settle on the pronunciation you will use at home.
Check the short form: look at the nickname table. If you love Francisco, be ready for Paco.
Test the initials: write out first, middle and last initials together, and include both surnames if your child will use two.

For pronunciation, we print only what the reference gives, in the International Phonetic Alphabet. Three patterns stand out. The j in Javier, José and Joaquín and the g in Ángel share one symbol, /x/. The h in Hugo and Héctor has no symbol at all. And the z in Gonzalo and the c in Ignacio change between Spain and Latin America.

Name	Pronunciation given by Behind the Name
Javier	/xa.ˈβjeɾ/
José	/xo.ˈse/ (Spanish)
Joaquín	/xo.a.ˈkin/ or /xwa.ˈkin/
Jesús	/xe.ˈsus/ (Spanish)
Ángel	/ˈaŋ.xel/
Hugo	/ˈu.ɣo/ (Spanish)
Héctor	/ˈek.toɾ/
Gonzalo	/ɡon.ˈθa.lo/ (European Spanish), /ɡon.ˈsa.lo/ (Latin American Spanish)
Ignacio	/iɣ.ˈna.θjo/ (European Spanish), /iɣ.ˈna.sjo/ (Latin American Spanish)
Íñigo	/ˈi.ɲi.ɣo/
Yago	/ˈɟ͡ʝa.ɣo/
Raúl	/ra.ˈul/
Xoán	/ˈʃo̯aŋ/ (Galician)
Tlaloc	/ˈtɬaː.lok/ (Classical Nahuatl)

Pronunciations as printed on each name’s Behind the Name entry.

On surnames: in Spain, the civil registry law says that when both parents are on record, they agree on the order in which each parent’s first surname is passed on, and they do so before the birth is registered. That is how a child comes to carry two surnames, one from each parent. Rules and customs differ from country to country, so check what applies where your baby will be registered.

How do you pick one? Shortlist three to five names, read the meaning row for each, and say each one with your surname and with any brother’s or sister’s name. Pairing ideas, not rules: Mateo and Santiago, Diego and Hugo, Luis and Pablo, Rodrigo and Álvaro, León and Teo. As first and middle names: Mateo Luis, Santiago José, Diego Andrés, Lucas Gabriel and León Rafael. For a sister, pair your shortlist with our Hispanic girl names list, which is built the same way.

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The Bottom Line

Spanish names for boys cover every style: classics like Mateo, Santiago and Diego, short picks like Luis, Hugo and Teo, strong old names like Rodrigo, Álvaro and Gonzalo, saint names like Pablo and Andrés, word names like León, Ángel and Cruz, and double names like Juan Pablo. Nahuatl, Mayan, Quechua, Mapuche, Basque, Catalan and Galician names are their own traditions, and they are worth choosing with the same care.

Shortlist a few, check the meaning, decide how you will handle the accent mark on U.S. paperwork, and say each name out loud with your surname. Once the name is settled, sleep is the next project: our newborn sleep schedule week by week is a gentle place to start.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are popular Hispanic boy names?

Familiar Hispanic boy names include Mateo, Santiago, Sebastián, Alejandro, Diego, José, Juan, Carlos, Miguel and Luis. Mateo ranked No. 8 and Lucas No. 10 among U.S. boys born in 2025, according to the Social Security Administration, and Behind the Name lists Spanish among the usages of both names.

What are unique Spanish boy names?

Less common Spanish names for boys include Aurelio, Macario, Fulgencio, Nicanor, Evaristo, Eleuterio, Leandro, Octavio, Ulises and Cayetano. Several have clear old meanings, such as golden for Aurelio and shining for Fulgencio. You can check how common any name is with the name search on the Social Security Administration baby names page.

What are strong Spanish boy names?

Many strong Spanish boy names are very old. Per Behind the Name, Rodrigo is a form of Roderick, famous ruler, Ricardo of Richard, brave ruler, and Leonardo of Leonard, brave lion. Alfonso comes from a Visigothic name meaning noble and ready, Lope means wolf, and Héctor is the Trojan champion of Greek legend.

What are some Mexican boy names?

Most boys’ names used in Mexico are Spanish names, such as Mateo, Santiago, Diego, José and Juan. Nahuatl is the other source. Behind the Name says Nahuatl names are used by the Nahua peoples of Mexico and Central America: Cuauhtemoc means descending eagle, Itzcoatl obsidian snake, Tonatiuh sun and Ehecatl wind.

What is the difference between Hispanic, Latino and Spanish?

The U.S. Census Bureau uses Hispanic or Latino for a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Britannica describes Hispanic as tied to Spanish-speaking places, including Spain, and Latino as Latin American origin, including Brazil. Spanish is the language, or someone from Spain.

Do Spanish names keep their accent marks in the United States?

In Spanish, the accent mark is part of the spelling of names like Sebastián, José, Andrés and Ángel. U.S. paperwork does not always carry accent marks, so ask your hospital or state vital records office what can be printed, and decide how you will write the name at school and at home.

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