How popular is the baby name Carlos in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Carlos.

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Popularity of the baby name Carlos


Posts that mention the name Carlos

Popular baby names in Mexico, 2020

Flag of Mexico
Flag of Mexico

Two years ago, the country of Mexico welcomed 1,629,211 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Santiago.

Here are Mexico’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2020:

Girl names

  1. Sofia, 6,200 baby girls
  2. Maria Jose, 4,984
  3. Regina, 4,966
  4. Valentina, 4,905
  5. Camila, 4,688
  6. Ximena, 3,783
  7. Victoria, 3,654
  8. Renata, 3,417
  9. Maria Fernanda, 3,390
  10. Valeria, 3,272
  11. Natalia, 3,135
  12. Isabella, 2,997
  13. Romina, 2,934
  14. Daniela, 2,881
  15. Alexa, 2,490
  16. Ana Sofia, 2,406
  17. Andrea, 2,194
  18. Maria Guadalupe, 2,111
  19. Melissa, 2,093
  20. Fernanda, 2,075
  21. Samantha, 1,927
  22. Aitana, 1,910
  23. Elizabeth, 1,790
  24. Yamileth, 1,742
  25. Guadalupe, 1,720
  26. Mariana, 1,582
  27. Ana Victoria, 1,546
  28. Ana Paula, 1,517
  29. Fatima, 1,511
  30. Abigail, 1,480
  31. Emily, 1,459
  32. Julieta, 1,416
  33. Alejandra, 1,338
  34. Esmeralda, 1,311
  35. Vanessa, 1,289
  36. Estefania, 1,274
  37. Evelyn, 1,273
  38. Luciana, 1,252
  39. Jimena, 1,111
  40. Miranda, 1,058
  41. Lucia, 1,056
  42. Ivanna, 1,037
  43. Kimberly, 1,024
  44. Itzayana, 1,022
  45. Sofia Guadalupe, 1,020
  46. Carolina, 1,014
  47. Danna Sofia, 1,006
  48. Alondra, 961
  49. Aranza, 937
  50. Emma, 931

Boy names

  1. Santiago, 8,794 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 7,105
  3. Sebastian, 5,850
  4. Leonardo, 5,230
  5. Emiliano, 4,320
  6. Matias, 4,252
  7. Diego, 3,881
  8. Daniel, 3,747
  9. Miguel Angel, 3,571
  10. Alexander, 3,380
  11. Alejandro, 3,339
  12. Gael, 3,043
  13. Jesus, 3,021
  14. Angel, 2,637
  15. David, 2,551
  16. Emmanuel, 2,446
  17. Luis Angel, 2,417
  18. Rodrigo, 2,371
  19. Fernando, 2,359
  20. Maximiliano, 2,282
  21. Dylan, 2,258
  22. Jose Angel, 2,242
  23. Tadeo, 2,151
  24. Jose Luis, 2,139
  25. Gabriel, 2,016
  26. Eduardo, 2,012
  27. Juan Pablo, 1,972
  28. Rafael, 1,911
  29. Isaac, 1,845
  30. Samuel, 1,831
  31. Axel, 1,828
  32. Juan Carlos, 1,797
  33. Nicolas, 1,793
  34. Emilio, 1,792
  35. Jose Manuel, 1,683
  36. Damian, 1,658
  37. Leonel, 1,640
  38. Elias, 1,624
  39. Ricardo, 1,622
  40. Alexis, 1,618
  41. Adrian, 1,521
  42. Mauricio, 1,497
  43. Antonio, 1,481
  44. Alan, 1,480
  45. Jonathan, 1,477
  46. Francisco, 1,450
  47. Carlos, 1,432
  48. Angel Gabriel, 1,421
  49. Cristian, 1,404
  50. Javier, 1,402

The boys’ top 100 included Iker (57th), Uriel (61st), Saul (82nd), and Angel Gael (96th).

The girls’ top 100 included Samara (68th), Frida Sofia (75th), Estrella (85th), and Itzel (93rd).

And, a little father down on the girls’ list, we see Danna Paola (128th) and Amairani (292nd) — names associated with (and popularized by) the Mexican actresses Danna Paola and Amairani.

Source: Natalidad – INEGI

Image: Adapted from Flag of Mexico (public domain)

[Latest update: Aug. 2025]

Popular baby names in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1868

19th-century Providence, Rhode Island
19th-century Providence

Years ago, I discovered three documents with relatively complete lists of births for the city of Providence, Rhode Island, for the years 1866, 1867, and 1868. I’ve already created Providence’s baby name rankings for 1866 and 1867 using the first two documents, and today (finally!) I’ve got the third set of rankings for you.

Let’s start with some stats:

  • 1,762 babies were born in Providence in 1868, by my count. According to the introduction of the document I’m using a source, however, the total number is 1,866. I don’t know how to account for this discrepancy.
  • 1,617 of these babies (791 girls and 826 boys) had names that were known at the time of publication. The other 145 babies got blank spaces. Either their names hadn’t been registered yet, or they hadn’t been named yet, or perhaps these babies died young and never received a name.
  • 284 unique names (143 girl names and 141 boy names) were shared among these 1,617 babies.

And now, on to the names!

Top 5

A quick look at the top 5 girl names and boy names in Providence in 1868:

Top baby girl namesTop baby boy names
1. Mary
2. Catherine
3. Sarah
4. Ellen
5. Margaret		1. John
2. William
3. James
4. Charles
5. George

All Girl Names

  1. Mary, 149 baby girls
  2. Catherine, 39
  3. Sarah, 38
  4. Ellen, 31
  5. Margaret, 28
  6. Elizabeth, 25
  7. Alice, 24
  8. Anna, 20
  9. Ann, 16
  10. Emma, 14
  11. Eliza, 13
  12. Clara & Martha, 11 each (tie)
  13. Hannah & Lucy, 10 each (tie)
  14. Bridget, Grace, Jennie, Julia & Maria, 9 each (5-way tie)
  15. Annie, Florence, Jane, Minnie & Susan, 8 each (5-way tie)
  16. Agnes, Caroline, Cora, Ella & Harriet, 7 each (5-way tie)
  17. Anne, Carrie, Hattie, Ida, Mabel & Nellie, 6 each (6-way tie)
  18. Eva, Joanna, Lydia & Rosanna, 5 each (4-way tie)
  19. Abby, Charlotte, Emily, Jessie, Josephine, Lillian, Lizzie, Louisa, Louise, Marion, Phebe, Rosella & Theresa, 4 each (13-way tie)
  20. Anastasia, Bertha, Edith, Gertrude, Isabella, Nettie, Pearl, Rebecca & Susanna, 3 each (9-way tie)
  21. Ada, Almira, Edna, Fannie, Flora, Frances, Helen, Henrietta, Inez, Laura, Lelia, Lillie, Lottie, Maud, Priscilla & Virginia, 2 each (16-way tie)
  22. Addie, Adelaide, Adelicia, Adeline, Agatha, Allene, Amanda, Amy, Angelica, Antoinette, Arabella, Augusta, Aurelia, B.,* Belle, Bessie, Betsey, Catharine, Celia, Claudia, Della, Eleanor, Eleanora, Estella, Estelle, Esther, Eudavelia, Eulalie, Evelyn, Francenia, Genevieve, Georgia, Honora, Imogene, Jesse, Juliette, Kate, Leonora, Lilla, Lillias, Lorena, Luella, Luetta, Magdalena, Marian, Marietta, Matilda, Mercy, Minerva, Miriam, Myra, Myrtis, Nanoan, Nora, Pauline, Reberta, Rhoda, Roberta, Rosa, Rose, Ruth, Sabrina, Sophia, Stella & Winifred, 1 each (65-way tie)

*What do you think the “B.” might have stood for?

All Boy Names

  1. John, 112 baby boys
  2. William, 68
  3. James, 64
  4. Charles, 52
  5. George, 45
  6. Thomas, 37
  7. Frederick, 25
  8. Henry, 23
  9. Joseph, 22
  10. Edward, 19
  11. Daniel & Patrick, 18 each (tie)
  12. Robert, 17
  13. Frank, 16
  14. Francis, 15
  15. Walter, 13
  16. Michael, 11
  17. Albert, 10
  18. Arthur, 9
  19. Benjamin, Peter & Samuel, 7 each (3-way tie)
  20. Freddie, Harry, Herbert & Stephen, 6 each (4-way tie)
  21. Edwin, Lawrence, Lewis, Martin & Timothy, 5 each (5-way tie)
  22. Bernard, Edmund, Eugene, Louis, Philip & Richard, 4 each (6-way tie)
  23. Alfred, Augustus, Christopher, Eben, Horace, Howard, Hugh, Jeremiah, Matthew & Willard, 3 each (10-way tie)
  24. Abel, Barney, Byron, Dennis, Edgar, Ferdinand, Gilbert, Luke, Max, Nathaniel, Owen, Roger, Solomon & Victor, 2 each (14-way tie)
  25. Alden, Alexis, Allen, Alrick, Amos, Andrew, Ansel, Anson, Archibald, Asa, Ashby, Bartholomew, Calvin, Carlos, Clarence, Clark, Clarke, Clement, Clifford, Collyer, Crolander, Darius, David, Earl, Elisha, Ellis, Eri, Ernest, Erwin, Eusebe, Everett, Felix, Forrest, Foster, Franklin, Fred, Gardner, Jacob, Jason, Jerome, Jireh, Joaneto, Josiah, Jubal, Justin, Lawson, Lodovic, Louis, Lucien, Lyman, Major, Malachi, Manuel, Melbourne, Monroe, Morey, Morris, Myron, Nelson, Nicholas, Olney, Orville, Oscar, Pendleton, Ralph, Reuben, Rolfe, Rowland, Rufus, Simeon, Simon, Steven, Stewart, Theodore, Ulysses,* Volney, Warren, Whiting, Willie & Winchester, 1 each (80-way tie)

*Ulysses was likely named in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected president in 1868.

Twins

Finally, nineteen sets of twins were born in Providence in 1868. (All of these twin names are accounted for in the rankings above.)

Girl-girl twinsGirl-boy twinsBoy-boy twins
Caroline & Harriet
Lucy & Lydia
Mary & Rosanna
Margaret & Mary
Lizzie & Martha
(blank) & (blank)		Anne & Thomas
Emma & Charles
Florence & William
Hannah & Josiah
Ida & John
Isabella & John
Jennie & Horace		Charles & William
Francis & Robert
George & John
James & John
James & Stephen
(blank) & (blank)

Have any thoughts about these rankings, or about any of the specific names above?

Source: Snow, Edwin M. Alphabetical Lists of the Names of Persons Deceased, Born and Married in the City of Providence. Number three. Providence: Millard & Harker, 1870.

Where did the baby name Abraxas come from in 1971?

baby name, abraxas, 1970s, music, album
Abraxas (1970) by Santana

In August of 1969, Latin rock band Santana played a career-launching set at Woodstock and (a few weeks later) released its debut album, Santana.

In September of 1970, the band followed up with a second album, Abraxas, which included the popular songs “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va.”

Abraxas ended up becoming the #1 album in the U.S. for six weeks at the end of 1970. The very next year, right on cue, the baby name Abraxas debuted in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: 5 baby girls named Abraxas [debut]
  • 1970: unlisted
  • 1969: unlisted

Where did the name of the album come from?

Carlos Santana discovered it in Hermann Hesse’s 1919 novel Demian, which he quoted in the liner notes of the album:

We stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion. We questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: We called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it Abraxas…

In the book, Hesse used Abraxas — an obscure Gnostic deity — as a symbol of unity/totality, saying that Abraxas contained “both the bright world and the dark world,” and combined “the godlike and the devilish.” (He contrasted Abraxas with Jehovah, who represented only divine things — the rest being “ascribed to the Devil” and “swept under the table and buried in silence.”)

Little is known about the Gnostic god, and the etymology/origin of “Abraxas” remains a mystery (though we do know that the original spelling was “Abrasax.”)

After debuting in 1971, the name dropped back out of the SSA data and didn’t return until the 2010s — this time as a boy name.

While we’re talking about Santana, I’ll also mention that the baby name Santana started seeing higher usage for both baby boys and baby girls in the early ’70s, thanks to the band’s success.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Abraxas? How about Santana?

P.S. A few years after Abraxas came out, Carlos Santana, as Devadip Carlos Santana, created the album Illuminations with Turiya Alice Coltrane.

Sources:

Where did the baby name Turiya come from in 1974?

The collaborative album "Illuminations" (1974) by Turiya Alice Coltrane and Devadip Carlos Santana.
Turiya Alice Coltrane album

The rare name Turiya has appeared in the SSA’s baby name data just twice so far, in 1974 and 1975:

  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: 7 baby girls named Turiya
  • 1974: 6 baby girls named Turiya [debut]
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Signs point to Alice Coltrane, who wasn’t just the widow of famous jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, but also an accomplished jazz musician in her own right. She played piano and organ professionally starting in the early 1960s, and later learned to play the harp as well.

Following the death of her husband in 1967, Alice did two things: she “devoted herself to Vedic practice,” and she began recording albums as a bandleader (instead of as a sideman).

In the ten years that followed, she released about a dozen albums on Impulse! and Warner Bros., many of them masterpieces that imagine a meeting point between jazz and psychedelic rock, gospel traditions and Indian devotional music.

So how does “Turiya” fit into all this?

At some point in the early ’70s, Alice adopted the name Turiyasangitananda, which she translated as “the Transcendental Lord’s highest song of bliss.” The Sanskrit components of the name are: turiya, meaning “the fourth (state of the soul),” sangita, meaning “music,” and ananda, meaning “bliss.”

The shortened version, Turiya, soon started appearing in song titles: “Turiya & Ramakrishna” (1970) and “Galaxy In Turiya” (1972).

But its most prominent appearance came in 1974 with the album Illuminations, which was co-created by “Turiya Alice Coltrane” and “Devadip Carlos Santana.” (In Sanskrit, deva means “god,” dip means “lamp” or “light.” Like Narada Michael Walden, Carlos Santana was a follower of Sri Chinmoy.)

Though Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda eventually left her professional music career to head a spiritual community — not to mention raise four children (Michelle, John Jr., Ravi and Oranyan) as a single mother — she never stopped making music.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Turiya?

Sources: Alice Coltrane – Wikipedia, Alice Coltrane’s Devotional Music, Alice Coltrane – Discogs