My Favorite Latino Baby Names!

Inigo, almost unknown in the U.S., is an intriguing choice, with its strong beat, creative and evocative sound, and associations with the great early British architect and stage designer Inigo Jones. The sixteenth-seventeenth century Jones shared his name with his father, a London clockmaker, who received it when Spanish names for boys were fashionable in England, especially among devout Roman Catholics.

Actor Joaquin Phoenix (brother of River, Rain, Liberty and Summer) highlighted this one, then Kelly Ripa began talking about younger son Joaquin on her daily TV show, and presto—it's now one of the hottest and most appealing multicultural baby boy names.

Juan, the Spanish version of John, is ubiquitous in the Spanish-speaking world, and is familiar internationally via such references as Don Juan and San Juan.

Leandro is the Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish variant of the English name Leander. A blend of two Latin words (Leo "lion" and Andro "man"), Leandro is a name that suggests its bearer has strength and power. Despite this very masculine meaning, Leandro also has a long romantic history, beginning with the myth of Hero and Leander (Ero et Leandro in Latin) to being an important figure in the history of the beautiful Spanish city of Seville.

About 100 baby boys were named Lucio in the US last year, a number we expect to increase with the growing popularity of all names in the Lu family. It's a family united by sound, with three main branches.

Because of shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, this has become a generic term for pricey stilettos, as in "I must have those Manolos."

Simple and universal, Marco is a Latin classic that would make a much livelier namesake for an Uncle Mark. It was used for her son by actress Jill Hennessy and goes well with surnames of any nationality.

Mateo vaulted into the boys' Top 10 in 2023, ranking all the way up at Number 6. Counting Mateo and Teo along with Anglo equivalents Theodore and Theo make this by far the Number 1 boys' name in the US.

Cowboy swagger via the non-cowboy flick "The Guns of Navarone," chosen by Priscilla Presley.

The most popular of the number names used by Hispanic parents, open to all. Octavia and Octavio are two Spanish baby names that are moving out into the wider world.

Pablo, the commonly used Spanish version of Paul, has the added bonus of some fantastic artistic bearers: painter Picasso, cellist Casals, and poet Neruda. Pablo has been consistently in the US charts since records began, and has been within the Top 500 since the mid 60s. However, Pablo has never cracked the Top 200, making it familiar but not overused or tired.

Shakespeare's Tempest has kept the name Prospero alive.

Quint or Quinton played to a Latin rhythm.

Rafael is perhaps the ultimate romantic Latino name, not a bad gift to give your son. The Raphael spelling is the original Hebrew version.

Richard is far from fashionable, but Ricardo is one of the most popular Spanish names for boys in the US. And it does sound far more appealing that the English version.

Santiago is a spirited Spanish name with great crossover potential. It's a place-name (a city in Chile), a surname, and the name of the patron saint of Spain.

Serafin and Seraphim are much less known and used in the US than the feminine forms Serafina and Seraphina, but just as appealing. An out-of-the-box Spanish option with a deep history and an animated meaning.