Popular Spanish first names
3 minute readWhen we think of Spain, the first things that come to mind are probably sunshine, the beach and the ocean. Maybe we’re also thinking about flamenco, paella and tapas. But besides all these wonderful things, Spain has something else completely different to offer: beautiful first names.
As a publisher of personalized children’s books, we see many beautiful names come through our ‘door’ every day. Inspired by the orders of our personalized Search-and-Find Europe book, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most beautiful Spanish names we’ve seen recently. In our popular picture book, a child of your choice embarks on a train journey across Europe. In each country, the child gets to know typical traditions and can search for himself on the page. As well as other places, he also travels to Spain, more precisely the city of Barcelona. There’s a lot to discover!
Spanish names for girls
- Alba
- Alejandra
- Alma
- Ana
- Bárbara
- Beatriz
- Belén
- Blanca
- Candela
- Carlota
- Carmen
- Cecilia
- Clara
- Inés
- Jimena
- Júlia / Julieta
- Leonor
- Lidia
- Lucía
- Marisol
- Marta
- Núria / Nuria
- Pepa
- Pilar
- Rocío
- Sofía
Spanish names for boys
- Adrián
- Álvaro
- Carlos / Carlitos
- Felipe
- Francisco
- Gonzalo
- Héctor
- Hugo
- Jaime
- Javier
- Jorge
- José
- Juan
- Marcos
- Martín
- Miguel
- Moisés
- Pablo
- Pau
- Pepe
- Rosario
- Sancho
- Santiago / Santi / Tiago
- Victor
A selection of names and the meanings behind them
The popular Spanish female name Marta has its origin in Aramaic and means “The Lady”, we recently printed 20 copies of this name.
Almost as popular is the name Carmen. It has two different origins, with its first root used as a nickname for Carmel, from Hebrew karmel meaning “God’s vineyard”. The second origin is from the Latin word carmen, which means “song”.
The girls’ name Candela is derived from the feast of Candelmas which is celebrated on the 40th day after Christamas. The name comes from the Latin word for candle.
A total of 96 Search-and-Find Europe books have been made for little ones with the name Clara. This name derives from the Latin word clarus, meaning “the luminous”, “the radiant” and “the beautiful”.
A much less frequently seen name is the name, Marisol. This beautiful little name is comprised of the name Maria and the Spanish word for sun, “sol” and means “The beloved child of the sun”.
Moving onto the boys’ names, first of all, we have Santiago. This name is a combination of the Spanish name Iago (Jacob) and the word santo and means “Saint Jacob” – the patron saint of theology. The abbreviated versions of this name, Santi and Tiago are also very popular and we printed 52 copies of our book for boys with these names.
The name Pablo is extremely popular. This male name is the Spanish version of the Latin name, Paul meaning “small”, “humble” or “little”. In the past it was used to distinguish the younger of two people of the same family bearing the same name, similar to how adding Junior to a name in the US is still popular today.
The name Jorge has its origins in the Ancient Greek name,Georgos, which means “Land worker” or “Farmer”.
Slightly less frequently seen is the name Felipe. Felipe also comes from Ancient Greece from the Greek adjective Philippos, meaning “friend of horses”.
