Potentially Hyphenated Names Used for Boys in the US

Have you ever met someone with a double-barreled first name? Two first names strung together by a hyphen? It happens often enough to be a thing, but yet it is still somewhat rare depending on where you live.

There could be a number of reasons why parents would opt for a hyphenated name. Perhaps they couldn't narrow down their favorites and decided to use them all. Perhaps they'd like to honor two people in one name. Or maybe they just like how the two names sound together. Hyphenated names do get used often, even here in the US, however none of them have managed to get enough births per year to rank all that high. The majority of the names on this list have less than 20 births per year.

Since the SSA's data doesn't account for any hyphens and writes it all as one name, it is impossible to know how these names are truly intended to be written. Perhaps the name was meant to be written as one, or maybe the child received two first names rather than a first and a middle.

There could be some that were written with spaces. For example, it is unlikely that Juandedios or Angeldejesus are one word or hyphenated, but that's how it came up in the data. These are probably listed as Juan de Dios and Angel de Jesus in the "first name box".

Again, the data isn't clear. These could be one name. These could be hyphenated. Or these could be spaced as two+ first-names.  Also, I probably missed quite a few of the more foreign ones, but I included a few of them below that seemed most intuitive. Here is what I compiled:

John-Paul  (164 births)

Abdul-Aziz (97 births)
John-Luke (46 births)
John-Michael (35 births)
Abdul-Malik (31 births)
John-David (27 births)
King-James (20 births)
Jesse-James (19 births)
Muhammad-Ali (16 births)
John-Thomas (15 births)
Abdul-Kareem (14 births)
John-Anthony (13 births)
John-Henry (13 births)
John-Patrick (13 births)
King-David (13 births)
John-Carlo (12 births)
John-Carlos (12 births)
Jon-Paul (12 births)
Marc-Anthony (12 births)
Mark-Anthony (11 births)
Michael-Anthony (10 births)
Abdul-Karim (9 births)
Ethan-James (9 births)
Jay-Mason (9 births)
John-Mark (9 births)
John-Robert (9 births)
Jon-Luke (9 births)
Sir-Charles (9 births)
Jay-Anthony (8 births)
John-Daniel (8 births)
John-William (8 births)
Jon-Carlo (8 births)
Jon-Carlos (8 births)
Sean-Patrick (8 births)
Aiden-James (8 births)
James-Michael (7 births)
Joe-Anthony (7 births)
John-Ryan (7 births)
Jon-Michael (7 births)
Joshua-James (7 births)
King-Michael (7 births)
King-Solomon (7 births)
Liam-Gabriel (7 births)
Liam-James (7 births)
Liam-Matthew (7 births)
Liam-Michael (7 births)
Chris-Angel (6 births)
Elijah-James (6 births)
James-Ryan (6 births)
John-Joseph (6 births)
King-Charles (6 births)
King-Elijah (6 births)
Michael-Gabriel (6 births)
Sean-Michael (6 births)
Tyler-James (6 births)
Andrew-James (5 births)
Billy-Joe (5 births)
Carter-James (5 births)
Christian-James (5 births)
Christopher-John (5 births)
David-James (5 births)
Jacob-Anthony (5 births)
James-Dean (5 births)
James-Patrick (5 births)
John-Gabriel (5 births)
John-Wesley (5 births)
Jon-David (5 births)
King-Anthony (5 births)
King-Joseph (5 births)
Lee-Andrew (5 births)
Liam-Alexander (5 births)
Matthew-James (5 births)
Noah-Gabriel (5 births)
Paul-Anthony (5 births)
Prince-Charles (5 births)
Ryan-Paul (5 births)
Sir-William (5 births)

Latin Combination names (Spanish, Italian, even French):
These could be one name. These could be hyphenated. Or these could be spaced as two first names. It is hard to tell from the data. How do you imagine the following names would be written?

Gianluca (158 births)
Miguel-Angel (110 births)
Juan-Carlos (89 births)
Juan-Pablo (87 births)
Jose-Luis (86 births)
Jean-Carlos (75 births)
Michelangelo (74 births)
Jeancarlo (48 births)
Michaelangelo (42 births)
Jose-Manuel (35 births)
Luis-Angel (35 births)
Giancarlos (34 births)
Jose-Angel (33 births)
Juan-Diego (28 births)
Juan-Jose (28 births)
Gianmarco (26 births)
Jose-Maria (23 births)
Jose-Miguel (22 births)
Gianfranco (21 births)
Jean-Paul (21 births)
Jose-Antonio (21 births)
Jean-Pierre (18 births)
Juan-Manuel (16 births)
Marco-Antonio (16 births)
Juan-Antonio (14 births)
Gianlucas (11 births)
Jose-Carlos (10 births)
Jose-Juan (10 births)
Juan de Dios (10 births)
Angel-Gabriel (9 births)
Gianlucca (9 births)
Juan-Angel (9 births)
Juan-Daniel (9 births)
Juan-David (8 births)
Luis-Antonio (8 births)
Gianluigi (7 births)
Jiancarlo (7 births)
Jose-Julian (7 births)
Juan-Luis (7 births)
Luis-Fernando (7 births)
Angel de Jesus (6 births)
Carlos-Daniel (6 births)
Jorge-Luis (6 births)
Jose de Jesus (6 births)
Juan-Andres (6 births)
Luis-Daniel (6 births)
Luis-Enrique (6 births)
Luis-Mario (6 births)
Don-Juan (5 births)
Giankarlo (5 births)
Gianmichael (5 births)
Jose-Daniel (5 births)
Luis-Carlos (5 births)
Luis-Manuel (5 births)
Victor-Hugo (5 births)
Victor-Manuel (5 births)

I suspect that many of these are double first names rather than actually hyphenated, but since we can't know for sure, they have been included here.  Which do you like? Are there any that you think do not flow well together?

Stay tuned for the list of potentially hyphenated girls' names. It is SO much longer than this list!

The Latinate Boys of 2014: Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Names in the Top 1000

Leonardo da Vinci

There is a very large Latin presence in the United States these days. Did you know that there are several Spanish, Italian and Portuguese names for boys that rank within the Top 1000 most popular names?

My favorite of the bunch is listed as the "Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Leonard" on Behind the Name. Leonardo fits all three origin categories with ease and yet it is familiar enough to English ears that it could be considered for American boys who do not have Latin origins. The part-Italian Leonardo DiCaprio has helped make the name more mainstream in America. Interestingly, his name was chosen when his pregnant mother felt him kick for the first time while his parents were viewing a painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo isn't the only name that works across all three of these cultures though.  Below are all of the Latinate names and their popularity rank for the year 2014 in the US.

Let's take a look at the first half of the Top 1000 first:

Angel #67                                         Jose #76 Juan #98 Luis #99 Mateo #106 Jesus #111 Leonardo  #114 Santiago #115 Carlos #117 Giovanni #125 Diego #129 Antonio #139 Miguel #146 Alejandro #157 Luca #185 Jorge #207 Javier #216 Andres #222 Lorenzo #227 Francisco #232 Emiliano #254 Ricardo #256 Eduardo #261 Fernando #263 Manuel #265 Josue #269 Mario #270 Cristian #273 Cesar #279

Emilio #280 Cruz #290 Rafael #293 Sergio #307 Marco #308 Angelo #315 Fabian #325 Joaquin #326 Romeo #341 Roberto #343 Maximiliano #344 Pedro #354 Enzo #369 Adan #373 Matteo #375 Thiago #390 Esteban #392 Pablo #396 Armando #400 Gerardo #402 Marcos #404 Enrique #414 Raul #423 Leonel #430 Hugo #438 Julio #452 Jaime #468 Gustavo #482 Rodrigo #488

Within the Top 500, there are many very handsome, strong and stylish names for boys. Even though these are all of Spanish, Italian or Portuguese origin, some are no doubt given to boys who do not have those ancestries. For example, I could see a blond, blue-eyed boy sporting the names Luca, Cruz or Hugo these days.  It would be inaccurate to claim that all of these Latinate names belong only to those with the corresponding heritage. Do you know anyone with these names?

Here are the names in the second half of the Top 1000 chart in the US for 2014:

Matias #503                                     Alberto #513 Gianni #515 Arturo #518 Alfredo #524 Alonzo #525 Arlo #539 Isaias #547 Neymar #548 Luciano #568 Ezequiel #569 Mauricio #577 Matthias #580 Mathias #582 Salvador #600 Lucian #608 Alessandro #623 Santino #632 Aldo #645 Ramon #647 Ernesto #651 Carmelo #653 Tomas #658 Guillermo #678 Alonso #708 Felipe #713 Lucca #740 Marcelo #741 Vicente #744 Aron #745

Ulises #749 Jadiel #756 Valentino #765 Giovani #769 Rogelio #780 Leandro #784 Vincenzo #812 Franco #817 Giancarlo #823 Alfonso #849 Jairo #865 Crisiano #872 Agustin #879 Rey #884 Santana #887 Ramiro #890 Salvatore #899 Rolando #905 Santos #909 Jovani #920 Maximo #921 Alvaro #922 Jovanni #943 Rodolfo #945 Eliseo #952 Camilo #962 Efrain #963 Deangelo #968 Giovanny #969 Dario #971 Osvaldo #989

While most of these names are still very handsome, strong and stylish, they are also a bit more on the unusual side than the names at the top of the charts.  The one name that stands out in this bunch is Arlo. It is a Spanish name but it has been climbing the charts rapidly in the last couple years which indicates that more than just Spanish boys are being given the name. Do you have any favorites in this bunch?

Unless I missed any, that makes 119 Spanish, Italian or Portuguese names for boys within the Top 1000! Which names do you love, which are you not keen on?

Lorenzo

Welcome to Italian week! On Wednesday, we'll look at Italian baby naming traditions, and Friday will bring a lovely girls name. Today, we're looking at the Italian boy name Lorenzo.

Lorenzo is actually both the Italian and Spanish form of the Latin Laurentius or Laurence. This name means "from Laurentum" which is a city in ancient Italy probably derived the Latin word laurus meaning "laurel".  

In history, Lorenzo de Medici was the ruler of Florence during the Renaissance. He was known as the Magnificent and was a patron of the arts. He actually employed great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli and others. Click here to view other namesakes in history.

Lorenzo currently ranks #4 in Italy and short-form Enzo ranks at #4 in France.  Renzo is another nickname option or even Leo.

This name has always done fairly well in the US too! It is one of those exotic but not too exotic choices that parents love. Since 1880, Lorenzo has consistently ranked in the 200-400 range. As of 2013, it ranked at #237 representing 1,498 total male births.

What do you think of Lorenzo? Which nicknames would you use? What middle name might you pair with it? What would his siblings be named?  Here are a few ideas that I came up with:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Cristina, Emilia, Isabella, Juliana, Marina, Sophia, Viviana
Brothers: Antonio, Dominic, Francisco, Julian, Luca, Reuben, Vincent

Middle Name Ideas:
Lorenzo Daniel
Lorenzo Elliott
Lorenzo Marcus
Lorenzo Raphael

As a Middle Name:
Felix Lorenzo
Nathan Lorenzo
Peter Lorenzo
Victor Lorenzo

Cordovan

After compiling a list of color names that could potentially be used as baby names, the color Cordovan caught my eye. After searching in various baby name databases, I've found that this has never been used as a name in the U.S. I was struck by Cordovan because of its similarities to names like Sullivan and Donovan and Cor- names like Cordell, Corbeau, Cormac or Corbett. Cordovan sounds like it should be a trendy, modern name.

Cordovan is a Spanish name meaning "native of Cordova" which refers to a city in Spain called Cordoba. It was there that seventh century Visigoths began production of "shell cordovan leather." In this case, cordovan describes the color of the leather. It was first used as the name of a color in 1925 in English.  As a color, Cordovan is a rich burgundy color, or a dark shade of wine. If you'd like to see what color it is, the Hex number is #893F45.

As for popularity, it has never been used on a child in the US since it began keeping record in 1880. I managed to find Cordovan used as a surname in many death indexes and marriage records after a simple search. I also found one woman named Cordovan Denise R. from North Carolina. I wasn't able to track down any birth records in other countries.

Since Cordovan has a strong association with leather, it has a masculine image behind it. Cute nicknames could include Cory, Cord, Cordy, Cordo or Van. What would you pair with this fantastic color name? What do you think of it?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Brielle, Capri, Claret, Esme, Finlay, Hazel, Olive, Raven, Saffron, Scarlett, Wisteria
Brothers: Adler, Beckett, Cashel, Fletcher, Griffin, Jasper, MacAllister, Roan, Sterling, Zaffre

Middle Name Ideas:
Cordovan Blake
Cordovan James
Cordovan Lee
Cordovan Tate

As a Middle Name:
Andrew Cordovan
David Cordovan
James Cordovan
Parker Cordovan

Name of the Week: Catalina

The Girl Name of the Week comes to us in honor of this week's "Spanish Names For Girls" list. I have to admit that I had a very hard time choosing just one name to feature since so many of them stood out to me. I finally decided on Catalina, pronounced kah-tah-LEE-nah.

It is a Spanish form of Katherine. Now, I've always seen Katherine-type names meaning "pure" but after looking deeper into possible meanings, I'm not so sure which is truly "correct."  Here are the original possibilities:

• From the Greek name Αικατερινη (Aikaterine) 
• From the earlier Greek name ‘Εκατερινη (Hekaterine) which came from (hekateros) meaning "each of two" which is similar to the goddess Hecate's name.
• From the Greek αικια (aikia) meaning "torture" which is obviously not ideal.
• From a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name."

Eventually, these were put on the back-burner and Katherine solely became associated with the Greek καθαρος (katharos) meaning "pure." To ensure that this would be the most popular meaning, early Christians changed its Latin spelling from Katerina to Katharina.

As for Catalina, it seems to be used most often in geography. There is a city in Arizona, an island off the coast of California, and another island near the Dominican Republic, just to name a few of the many.

As a given name for girls, it is used all over the Spanish-Speaking world including actresses and musicians and athletes from Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Mexico. There are several Catalinas from Romania as well since they use the same spelling.

Let's look at the stats! Catalina has been used in the States since 1893!  It remained in the double-digits for births until 1974. It broke into the Top 1000 in 1989.  Slowly but surely, more and more girls receive the name every year! As of 2013, there were 773 girls given the name which ranks it at #395, a brand new record-high!

Revision:  As of 2016, Catalina ranked at #314 for a total of 1,024 births on record.

I think it is gorgeous! I would use this instead of Catherine or Katherine and use the classy nickname Kate, the cutesy nicknames Cat or Cata (cah-tah) or the lovely and unique Lina.

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Alejandra, Bianca, Cristina, Estella, Ignacia, Juliana, Lucinda, Mercedes, Paloma, Selena
Brothers: Armando, Cordero, Diego, Eduardo, Felipe, Joaquin, Leandro, Maximo, Oswaldo, Vicente

Middle Name Ideas:
Catalina Rose
Catalina Inez
Catalina Pilar
Catalina Isobel
Catalina Luz
Catalina Mary

As a Middle Name:
Dolores Catalina
Grisel Catalina
Leonor Catalina
Maite Catalina
Raquel Catalina

Whether you have any Spanish roots or not, what do you think of this lovely name?

Original Post: 9/27/13
Revision: 5/15/17

Spanish Names for Baby Girls

Spanish names for girls are so lovely! If you are looking for a name with Latin flair, take a look at this list! Every one of these names would flow wonderfully with a Spanish last name, and some of them would even work with a non-Spanish last name.

No matter what origin your surname is, you've got to admit that these names are beautiful!  Which is your favorite?

Adabella Adelina Adriana Aitana Alba Alejandra Alicia Alondra Amada Ana Angel/a Aniceta Arabella Aracely Aroa Belen Belisma Benecia Bianca Blanca Calida Camila Candela Carlota Carolina Catalina Christabel Clementina Concepcion Consuela Cristina Daniela Delores

Dulce Eliana Esmeralda Estela Estrella Eulalia Evalia Felicidad Fidelia Francecsa Gabriela Gloria Graciela Guadalupe Havana Ignacia Ines Irati Isabella Jacinta Jimena Juliana Karina Laia Lenora Liliana Lolita Lorena Lucia Lucinda Magdalena Maite Mariana

Marisol Maritza Marta Mercedes Milagra Natalia Nerea Noa Nuria Pabla Paloma Paulina Penelope Pilar Ramona Raquel Rosalinda Selena Soledad Teresa Trinidad Valentina Valeria Verdad Xaviera Ximena Xiomara Yara Yesenia Yolanda Ysabel Zamora Zita

Take a look the list of Spanish Boy Names from last week as well! If you need a bit of advice to choose the perfect name, or some suggestions for a first and middle name combination, check out the "Naming Services" page. I'd be glad to help! :)

Name of the Week: Javier

The Boy Name of the Week comes straight off the list of Spanish Boy Names: Javier!

Javier is the Spanish form of the name Xavier. Both of these names come from the Basque place name Etxaberri which means "the new house". Over time, it became Exaberri, then dropped the beginning e and final i. The X was originally pronounced with more of a "sh" sound.

With influences from English, French and Spanish, pronunciation varies. Javier is typically pronounced the Spanish way "hab-YAIR" with a sort of combined b and v sound. In Portuguese, it still has a "sh" sound in place of the X. French would say HAV-ee-ay, and in English it is most correctly said ZAV-ee-er even though famous characters like Charles Xavier from the X-Men comics have influenced the pronunciation of X-ay-vee-er.

A notable Xavier was St. Francis Xavier, or San Francisco Javier in Spanish (1506-1552). Once he gained fame as a Jesuit priest and missionary, many places and people were named after him and therefore Xavier and Javier also gained popularity.

Javier was a place (town? city?) within the Kingdom of Navarre which was located between present day Spain and France on the Spanish side.

Source

Javier has been used in the US since 1917. It has gained popularity on a strictly upward trajectory until its usage began to decline after its high-peak in 2001. There were 2,635 boys born with the name, ranking it at a high of #149.  In 2012, it ranks at #211 with 1,759 births.

 What would you pair it with?  Source | Source

Sibling Name Ideas for Javier:
Sisters: Araceli, Delilah, Elsa, Guadalupe, Luz, Maria, Marisol, Veronica, Yolanda
Brothers: Antonio, Carlos, Cesar, David, Francisco, Jorge, Luis, Miguel, Rafael

Sibling Name Ideas for Xavier:
Sisters: Alaina, Bethany, Diana, Isla, Julia, Natalie, Olivia, Sabrina, Sophia
Brothers: Alexander, Christian, Dominic, Elijah, Felix, Gabriel, Isaac, Patrick, Zachary

Middle Name Ideas for Javier:
Antonio Javier
Javier Vicente
Enrique Javier
Javier Esteban

Middle Name Ideas for Xavier:
Jacob Xavier
Xavier Riley
Landon Xavier
Xavier Amadeus

World-Wide Wednesday: Spanish Names

Spanish baby-naming traditions vary slightly from country to country, but overall, they are very similar. These customs appear in Spain, Mexico, certain islands in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The latter four are grouped together and called "Hispanic America."

In Spain, people today tend to bear a single given name and two surnames, or perhaps a "composite first name" like Juan Pablo followed by two surnames. The first surname is the father's first surname, and the second is the mother's first surname. Occasionally, the father's and mother's surnames could be reversed, but every sibling must have the same two surnames in the same order. It is so important that if the parents cannot agree on whose surname goes first, it is taken to court for an official to decide.

For example, if a man named Alberto Sanchez Hernandez and a woman named Maria Ruiz Gonzales have a son named Eduardo, the child's name would most likely be Eduardo Sanchez Ruiz.

If his child were to be addressed formally (Mr. or Señor) Eduardo Sanchez Ruiz, he would be called Señor Sanchez or Señor Sanchez Ruiz, but he would never be called Señor Ruiz. Sometimes, the first name would be used with the title "Don" as in Don Eduardo, but that is a fading custom.

Hispanic American naming customs are very similar to the traditions that are practiced in Spain. Many of them do have the "composite first name" which is basically what Americans think of as a first and a middle. They continue the surname tradition, using one paternal and one maternal.  They do not have "middle names."

In the past, traditions varied a bit. I'm sure you have heard of Spanish names that are incredibly long. For example, there is the Saint Teresa de los Andes whose real name is Juana Enriqueta Josefina de los Sagrados Corazones Fernández del Solar.

"Juana", "Enriqueta" and "Josefina" are her first names, followed by the second name "de los Sagrados Corazones" which reflects where she is from. Her paternal surname is "Fernández" and her maternal surname is "del Solar".

Sometimes "de" or "del" or "de los/las" will be used in a name. Like the example above, it denotes a geographical origin of the individual or of their ancestors; for example, Juan Ponce de Leon.

Other instances where this occurs include "martial conjunctions" where the wife drops her maternal surname and adds her husband's paternal surname.  Ángela López Sáenz, as wife of Tomás Portillo Blanco, would become Ángela López de Portillo.  However, this is very frowned upon in many places since it is custom for a woman to keep her birth name.

In Uruguay, it is the law to use two surnames. In Argentina, the use of two surnames is legally accepted, but often only the paternal surname is registered in the birth records, (or the maternal if there is no recognized father.) So it is common in Argentina to refer to someone by a single surname. Of course there are always special exceptions.

This common 2-surname tradition tends to get confusing when applied in the United States because laws in the US operate on the assumption that everyone has a first/middle/last name. The pattern of first/last/last makes documents and paperwork very difficult since the US sometimes tries to make the paternal surname a "middle name" and the maternal surname a "last name", which is incorrect since the officially recognized last name in Hispanic culture is usually the first one, the paternal surname, and the maternal one is ignored.

Let's talk about first names now. Parents are typically allowed to choose anything, but most will opt to honor a relative or a saint. The first part of the composite first name generally reflects the child's gender but the second part may not. For example, a boy named Jose Maria to honor Saint Mary. I have a female ancestor in my family tree named Maria de Jesus. This is rather common.

Most girls are given the first name Maria because of strong belief and respect for the Virgin Mary. Many Marias have the second part of the first name corresponding to a religious concept like Maria de la Luz (Mary of the light), but in daily life, many women will drop the Maria prefix and use the suffix portion as a social name, even though the whole thing is their legal name on paper. So she may go by Luz primarily, however addressing her as Maria is accepted.  Sometimes nicknames or diminutives or what we might call a "smoosh name" is used, such as Marisol for "Maria (de la) Soledad. These smoosh names are rather common for both genders, whether it be a given name or strictly a familial nick name.

If the girl's name includes a masculine honor name as the suffix, like Maria Jose in honor of Saint Joseph, she may be informally called Marijose, Majo, Josefina, Fina, Pepa, Pepita or Marise.  For a boy named Jose Maria, Maria is often abbreviated. So he would be Jose M. Reyes or Jose Ma. Reyes.

The Civil Registry will record the child's name as a forename and two surnames, however a child can receive an entirely different baptism name like Pedro Jose Froilan de Todos los Santos. This type of name has no legal significance and is generally only used families of royalty or nobility.

I'm sure there is so much more information that could be addressed about the customs of Spanish and Latino baby names, but I think I will stop there! I am of Hispanic descent but the lineage has been Americanized that we do not follow these customs. I have an Irish maiden name, so I received a regular first, middle and last, none of which are considered Spanish. However, my husband's name is technically first/mother's maiden/father's surname, but with American customs applied, his mother's maiden name is basically considered his middle name.

What about your family? Traditions seem to get a bit jumbled up in the US. If you have Hispanic roots, do you have a traditional Latin name or an Americanized one?  Let me know in the comments below!

If you are looking for first names that generally work well on Hispanic babies, take a look at my lists page. I have made long lists for both boys and girls!

[Note, if I have gotten any information incorrect, please let me know so I can adjust it.]

Source | Source | Source | Source

Spanish Names for Baby Boys

I'd like to share this wonderful list of names that generally work very handsomely with a Hispanic last name.

Most of these options are rather exotic and have a unique flair to them.  Which are your favorite?

Adan Adrian Alberto Alejandro Alvaro Antonio Armando Arnau Arsenio Barto Benicio Bernardo Brendano Carlos Carmelo Castel Cayo Cesar Chavez Cortez Cristobal Cristofer Cristian Cruz David Desiderio Diego Dionicio Eduardo Efren Elian Emiliano Enrique Ernesto Esteban

Ezequiel Fabian Federico Fernando Francisco Gabriel Geraldo Gilberto Guillermo Hector Hernan Hugo Iago Ignacio Iker Isaias Izan Jaime Jairo Javier Joaquin Jorge Jose Josue Juan Julio Lalo Lazaro Leandro Leonardo Luis Manuel Marco Martino Maximo

Miguel Montego Napier Narcisco Navarro Octavio Oswaldo Pablo Palomo Pascual Pedro Placido Quinto Rafael Ramirio Ramon Raul Reynaldo Ricardo Rodrigo Ruben Salvador Santiago Santo Sergio Tadeo Tito Urbano Vicente Vidal Vincenzo Vivaldo Xavier Zebedeo

Stayed tuned for Wednesday's interesting article about Hispanic Baby-Naming Traditions, and next week's list of Spanish Names for Girls!  What do you think of this list? Are there any names that you would add? Which is your favorite?

Name of the Day: Arlo

I'm a fan of names that are somewhat under the radar but still have a solid history. I like names that were popular in the 1880's-1920's and never heard from again until modern times. I have been focusing on these for my "Name of the Day" report, and am doing so again today with the name Arlo.

Primarily a boy's name, Arlo is short, sweet and full of character. Two celebrities recently named their sons Arlo, (Natasha Kaplinsky in 2008, and Toni Collette in 2011). Johnny Knoxville named his daughter Arlo in 2011, which suddenly throws this name into the "possibly unisex" category. (Popular girls names Harlow and Marlowe are similar, which may be the reason for Arlo going female.) It will always be a boy name in my mind since it has never ranked for a girl.

It ranked in the 600-1000 range on the US Top 1000 chart between 1910 and 1944.  It did not rank again until 2011 when it hit #916, and jumped 98 spots to #818 in 2012. If you read my previous post about trending boy names that end with the letter -o, you'll notice that Arlo was one of my "Names to Watch".  I really think this one is going to boom up the charts in the next few years.

Of Spanish origin, Arlo means "barberry tree", so it also puts it into the "nature name" category, which can sometimes be tricky for boys. Along those lines, Arlo would be a fascinating sibling for Jasper and Dahlia.

If you are looking to honor a relative, Arlo has also been known to be a variation of the following names: Harlow/Harley, Carlos/Charles, Arlene.  It could also be spelled Arlow, Arlowe, or Arrlo.  Because of this, the meaning of Arlo may be more relative to these other names. But as its own name, Arlo is indeed Spanish for Barberry tree.

What do you think of this unique moniker? Would you use it for your son? Or do you see it better suited for a girl?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Claire, Dahlia, Lily, Olive, Sabrina
Brothers: Henry, Finley, Jasper, Luca, Miles

Middle Name Ideas:
Arlo Maxwell
Arlo Sebastian
Arlo James
Arlo Thomas

As a Middle Name:

James Arlo

Dean Arlo

Benjamin Arlo

Ryan Arlo