The country of Uruguay, located in the southern region of South America, shares land borders with Argentina and Brazil.
According to Uruguay’s Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil (DNIC), the most popular baby names in the country in 2021 were María and Juan.
Uruguay’s baby name rankings consist of girl and boy names mixed together on a single list. The data mostly represents first-name usage, but does include some second-name usage as well. (This is because the rankings are created from Uruguayan identity card data, and Uruguayans are permitted to add up to two given names to their ID cards.)
That said, here are Uruguay’s top 100+ baby names of 2021:
- María, 1,260 babies
- María was used 858 times as a first name and 402 times as a second name.
- Juan, 1,023
- Juan was used 980 times as a first name and 43 times as a second name.
- Benjamín, 925
- Maria, 889
- Isabella, 798
- Mateo, 778
- Valentina, 725
- Emma, 722
- Martina, 706
- Catalina, 658
- Julieta, 644
- Felipe, 631
- Sofía, 624
- Valentín, 615
- Ezequiel, 561
- Nicolás, 541
- Lorenzo, 535
- Emilia, 513
- Agustín, 487 (tie)
- Bautista, 487 (tie)
- Belén, 477
- Daniel, 459
- Manuel, 450
- Alejandro, 433
- Santiago, 429
- Francisco, 426
- Delfina, 422
- Lautaro, 421 (tie)
- Agustina, 421 (tie)
- Santino, 419
- Carlos, 417
- Lucas, 413
- Valentino, 411
- Dante, 407
- Josefina, 393
- Luis, 392
- Ignacio, 389 (tie)
- Gabriel, 389 (tie)
- Joaquín, 385
- Olivia, 380
- José, 374
- Thiago, 359
- Emiliano, 352
- Gael, 343
- Victoria, 341
- Francesca, 325
- Alberto, 324
- Tomás, 318
- Sebastián, 315
- Renata, 312
- David, 308
- Jose, 302
- Martín, 301
- Zoe, 296
- Bastian, 290
- Samuel, 288
- Milagros, 286
- Eduardo, 284
- Pilar, 280 (tie)
- Paulina, 280 (tie)
- Bruno, 278
- Alexander, 275 (tie)
- Ana, 275 (tie)
- Clara, 271
- Facundo, 267
- Emily, 261 (tie)
- Pedro, 261 (tie)
- Benjamin, 259
- Antonio, 257 (tie)
- Alfonsina, 257 (tie)
- Guadalupe, 255
- Sofia, 254 (tie)
- Vicente, 254 (tie)
- Pablo, 254 (tie)
- Federico, 253
- Emanuel, 251
- Diego, 249
- Jorge, 240
- Javier, 239
- Salvador, 235
- Rafael, 230
- Fernando, 229
- Nahuel, 228
- Jazmín, 226
- Luciano, 223
- Liam, 222
- Paz, 218
- Camila, 217
- Maite, 216
- Andrés, 207
- Ismael, 206 (tie)
- Miguel, 206 (tie)
- Alma, 205
- Noah, 204
- Mía, 203
- Lucía, 202 (tie)
- Benicio, 202 (tie)
- Mia, 201
- Franco, 198
- Nicolas, 195
- Bianca, 194
- Isabel, 193
- Juana, 191
- Camilo, 190
- Tadeo, 188
- Enzo, 187
- Guillermo, 186
- Cataleya, 183
- Alejandra, 181 (tie)
- Sebastian, 181 (tie)
- Florencia, 179
- Carolina, 175
- Enrique, 172
- Ramiro, 171
- Alfonso, 167
- Faustino, 166
- Ámbar, 164 (4-way tie)
- Beatriz, 164 (4-way tie)
- Logan, 164 (4-way tie)
- Marcelo, 164 (4-way tie)
- Matías, 161 (tie)
- Ciro, 161 (tie)
- Aitana, 160 (tie)
- Antonella, 160 (tie)
- Angel, 159 (tie)
- Nahitan, 159 (tie)
- Nicole, 158
- Andrea, 156 (tie)
- Elena, 156 (tie)
(I went down this far to ensure that at least fifty girl names were included.)
Here are a few names from lower down on the list:
- 16 babies were named Tabaré, which was the name of former Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez (who died in December of 2020).
- Tabaré was given to just 2 babies the year before.
- 6 were named Atahualpa, which was the name of the last emperor of the Inca.
- Atahualpa was given to just one baby the year before.
- 2 were named Cono, perhaps after St. Cono of Italy.
- 2 were named Giorgian, which is the first name of Uruguayan soccer player Giorgian de Arrascaeta.
- 2 were named Pampa, which may refer to the Pampas — the grasslands of South America.
- The Spanish word pampa comes directly from the Quechua word pampa, meaning “plain, field.”
And, because Uruguay releases all of its baby name data, we can also check out the unique names at the other end of the spectrum. Here’s a selection Uruguay’s single-use baby names of 2021:
Aitziber, Berzaline, Carbonell, Danisel, Evtimova, Fradixon, Gilbeth, Hinayana, Itanu, Joxibel, Kundlik, Lothar, Mactominei, Neybis, Orientina, Pandugula, Quimey, Rillary, Sizzle, Tilottama, Toruk, Unelma, Venexia, Wilfreddy, Xunmira, Yulipza, Zombul
Some possible explanations/associations:
- Lothar – German soccer player Lothar Matthäus
- Mactominei – English soccer player Scott McTominay
- Orientina – the word orientales (“easterners”) is sometimes used to refer to Uruguayans
- The country’s official name is La República Oriental del Uruguay.
- Tilottama – an apsara in Hindu mythology
- Toruk – a flying creature in the movie Avatar
In 2020, the top names in Uruguay were Emma and Juan. (Emma managed to beat María/Maria only because Uruguay counts the accented and unaccented forms of names separately in the rankings.)
Sources:
- Caredio, V. and T. Urwicz. “¿Cuáles fueron los nombres más populares de bebés en 2021?” El País 13 Jan. 2022.
- “Oxúm, Gümercindo, Disthefano: los nombres más raros de los bebés registrados en 2021.” El Observador 14 Jan. 2022.
- Uruguay – Wikipedia
Image: Adapted from Flag of Uruguay (public domain)
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