Popular Spanish Baby Names. What’s Yours?

Favorite Baby Names

So, we named our daughter Maria.

Kind of obvious, right?

Not really. My generation of Cuban/Hispanic/Latino/whatever-your-want-to-call-us didn’t necessarily stick to the traditional names of our culture. Most of my cousins have children with non-Spanish names.

So, afraid we would get chided for picking the ever-popular Maria, I only told my best friend. Even my Mami didn’t know until her first grand-daughter was born.

Why did we go with Maria?

A few reasons: My great-grandmother, a fabulous woman wore the name well; my husband loves the name; and we wanted a name that could be said easily in Spanish and English, and one that would travel well. We’ve known Marias who are everything from Cuban to Czech. We like that.

Again, we’re a little bit the odd balls when you look at the names chosen by Hispanic parents in the United States.

From Yahoo Shine, an interview with BabyCenter en Español:

“Even when these parents don’t speak English, they’re increasingly likely to choose English names,” says Isidra Mencos, editor-in-chief of our popular Spanish-language website,BabyCenter en Español. “This year, Valentina dropped off the most-popular list and was replaced with the American-sounding Nicole.”

All about Alexander, Sophia, Santiago and Sofia

BabyCenter keeps tabs on the most popular Spanish baby names for boys and girls and here is what they discovered for 2011.

Latinos in the United States lean toward “bilingual” names — or rather, names like Maria and David, which can be said well and with the same spelling in either language. And in Spanish-speaking countries, Maria Jose still comes in at number 10.

Favorite Spanish Names

Among Latinos in the United States, favorite boys’ names:

1. Alexander
2. Sebastián
3. Daniel
4. Ángel
5. Santiago
6. Diego
7. Alejandro
8. Christopher
9. David
10. Anthony

Hispanics in the more than 20-Spanish-speaking countries, favorite boys’ names

1. Santiago
2. Sebastián
3. Matías
4. Nicolás
5. Samuel

Latinos in the United States, favorite girls’ names

1. Sophia
2. Camila
3. Isabella
4. Valeria
5. Mia
6. Allison
7. Gabriela
8. Emily
9. Ashley
10. Nicole

Latinos in 20-plus Spanish-speaking countries, favorite girls’ names:

1. Sofía
2. Valentina
3. Isabella
4. Camila
5. Valeria

To see the whole list, visit Baby Center.

What did you name your little baby Pollito?