How popular is the baby name Miguel in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Miguel.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Miguel


Posts that Mention the Name Miguel

How did “Money Heist” influence baby names?

The character Nairobi from the TV series "Money Heist" (2017-2021).
Nairobi from “Money Heist”

Eight thieves — six men and two women — all dressed in red jumpsuits, all donning Salvador Dalí masks — break into the Royal Mint of Spain (in Madrid) with the aim of printing 2.4 billion in Euros over 11 days, then making a clean getaway.

That’s what happens at the start of the Spanish-language crime drama series Money Heist, which became a worldwide hit in 2018, thanks to Netflix.

Upon the success of the first two seasons of the show (which had originally aired on Spanish TV in 2017), Netflix renewed Money Heist — producing and releasing three more seasons over the next three years.

Impressively, Money Heist: Part 3, Money Heist: Part 4, and Money Heist: Part 5 currently rank 5th, 3rd, and 2nd (respectively) on Netflix’s list of most popular non-English TV series of all time.

So…what does this have to do with U.S. baby names?

Characters from the TV series "Money Heist" (2017-2021).
The eight robbers of “Money Heist”

Well, to maintain their anonymity, the eight thieves went by city-inspired code-names: Tokyo, Moscow, Berlin, Nairobi, Rio, Denver, Helsinki, and Oslo.

While Moscow and Helsinki have never appeared in the U.S. baby name data, the six other city names have — and each one saw higher usage after Money Heist premiered on Netflix.

Let’s start with the biggest boosts…

Nairobi

(female character, played by Alba Flores)

Female usage of the baby name Nairobi began accelerating in 2018. (That massive jump in 2020 corresponds to a tragic Part 4 plot-twist.) Right now, the name is sitting just outside the girls’ top 1,000.

  • 2021: 241 baby girls named Nairobi [rank: 1,044th]
  • 2020: 215 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2019: 65 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2018: 37 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2017: 23 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2016: 21 baby girls named Nairobi
Graph of the usage of the baby name Nairobi in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Nairobi

Rio

(male character, played by Miguel Herrán)

Male usage of the baby name Rio has risen significantly since 2018:

  • 2021: 396 baby boys named Rio [rank: 672nd]
  • 2020: 303 baby boys named Rio [rank: 776th]
  • 2019: 193 baby boys named Rio
  • 2018: 171 baby boys named Rio
  • 2017: 132 baby boys named Rio
  • 2016: 134 baby boys named Rio
Graph of the usage of the baby name Rio in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Rio

Denver

(male character played by Jaime Lorente)

The baby name Denver, which was already on the rise for boys, began rising even faster in 2018:

  • 2021: 577 baby boys named Denver [rank: 505th]
  • 2020: 540 baby boys named Denver [rank: 526th]
  • 2019: 422 baby boys named Denver [rank: 638th]
  • 2018: 370 baby boys named Denver [rank: 674th]
  • 2017: 273 baby boys named Denver [rank: 821st]
  • 2016: 268 baby boys named Denver [rank: 840th]
Graph of the usage of the baby name Denver in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Denver

Oslo

(male character, played by Roberto García Ruiz)

Male usage of the baby name Oslo has been rising steadily since 2018:

  • 2021: 49 baby boys named Olso
  • 2020: 38 baby boys named Olso
  • 2019: 29 baby boys named Olso
  • 2018: 22 baby boys named Olso
  • 2017: 14 baby boys named Olso
  • 2016: 12 baby boys named Olso
Graph of the usage of the baby name Oslo in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Oslo

Tokyo

(female character, played by Úrsula Corberó)

The baby name Tokyo, which had appeared in the data as a boy name a couple of times, finally debuted as a girl name in 2019:

  • 2021: 10 baby girls named Tokyo
  • 2020: 15 baby girls named Tokyo [peak usage]
  • 2019: 7 baby girls named Tokyo [gender-specific debut]
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: unlisted

Berlin

(male character, played by Pedro Alonso)

Male usage of the baby name Berlin increased slightly in 2019 and 2020:

  • 2021: 26 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2020: 29 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2019: 17 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2018: 11 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2017: 9 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2016: 5 baby boys named Berlin

Which of the above names to you like best? What other city names do you think work well as human names?

Sources:

P.S. Why were city names used as code-names on Money Heist? Álex Pina, the show’s creator, explained during an interview in 2018 that he’d been trying to come up with a theme for the code-names when, “one day, someone turned up with a T-shirt bearing the word Tokyo and that’s how it all began.”

Popular baby names in Spain, 2021

spain

Last year, the country of Spain welcomed nearly 163,000 baby girls and almost 174,000 baby boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lucia and Martin.

Here are Spain’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021…

Girl Names

  1. Lucia, 3,643 baby girls
  2. Martina, 3,042
  3. Sofia, 2,998
  4. Maria, 2,696
  5. Valeria, 2,390
  6. Julia, 2,363
  7. Paula, 2,050
  8. Emma, 2,033
  9. Daniela, 1,866
  10. Carla, 1,811
  11. Alma, 1,772
  12. Olivia, 1,732
  13. Sara, 1,708
  14. Carmen, 1,696
  15. Vega, 1,666
  16. Mia, 1,663
  17. Lara, 1,627
  18. Alba, 1,561
  19. Noa, 1,542
  20. Lola, 1,533
  21. Valentina, 1,434
  22. Chloe, 1,415
  23. Claudia, 1,380
  24. Jimena, 1,375
  25. Aitana, 1,246
  26. Laia, 1,116
  27. Vera, 1,069
  28. Abril, 1,067
  29. Alejandra, 1,060
  30. Ana, 1,047
  31. Triana, 1,043
  32. Candela, 1,041
  33. Adriana, 996
  34. Manuela, 962
  35. Elena, 959
  36. Carlota, 931
  37. Ines, 895
  38. Blanca, 888
  39. Marina, 868
  40. Marta, 813
  41. Lia, 790
  42. Victoria, 782
  43. Nora, 764
  44. Zoe, 752
  45. Rocio, 747
  46. Alicia, 723
  47. Clara, 718
  48. Gala, 707
  49. Luna, 685
  50. Ariadna, 673

Vega, which ranked 15th, is the Spanish word for “meadow.” As a given name, it’s a reference to the Marian title La Virgen de la Vega. (The word is also featured in the name of the famous Nevada city of Las Vegas — “the meadows.”)

Boy Names

  1. Martin, 3,459 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 3,339
  3. Mateo, 3,270
  4. Leo, 2,837
  5. Lucas, 2,810
  6. Manuel, 2,587
  7. Daniel, 2,520
  8. Alejandro, 2,513
  9. Pablo, 2,276
  10. Enzo, 2,007
  11. Alvaro, 1,941
  12. Mario, 1,792
  13. Adrian, 1,781
  14. Diego, 1,598
  15. Thiago, 1,567
  16. Bruno, 1,485
  17. Oliver, 1,452
  18. David, 1,441
  19. Alex, 1,438
  20. Marco, 1,413
  21. Gonzalo, 1,364
  22. Marcos, 1,349
  23. Nicolas, 1,315
  24. Antonio, 1,303
  25. Izan, 1,279
  26. Miguel, 1,275
  27. Javier, 1,267
  28. Luca, 1,216
  29. Liam, 1,198
  30. Gael, 1,127
  31. Marc, 1,095
  32. Dylan, 1,044
  33. Juan, 1,036
  34. Angel, 1,035
  35. Carlos, 992
  36. Jose, 988
  37. Gabriel, 960
  38. Sergio, 907
  39. Eric, 862
  40. Jorge, 849
  41. Dario, 832
  42. Adam, 818
  43. Samuel, 811
  44. Hector, 784
  45. Rodrigo, 762
  46. Iker, 750
  47. Pau, 735
  48. Jesus, 723
  49. Guillermo, 706
  50. Jaime, 705

Home to more than 47 million people, Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (including two island groups) and two autonomous cities (both located on the northern coast of Africa).

Map of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain
Spain’s 17 autonomous communities

The top baby names within each of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities last year were…

Girl NamesBoy Names
Andalusia
(18.0% of the population)		1. Maria, 970
2. Lucia, 821
3. Martina, 667
4. Carmen, 623
5. Lola, 614		1. Manuel, 1,165
2. Hugo, 823
3. Martin, 801
4. Alejandro, 780
5. Pablo, 654
Catalonia
(16.2% of pop.)		1. Julia, 469
2. Martina, 423
3. Mia, 403
4. Emma, 400
5. Lucia, 379		1. Marc, 439
2. Nil, 439
3. Pol, 438
4. Jan, 422
5. Leo, 420
Madrid (community)
(14.3% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 712
2. Sofia, 576
3. Martina, 463
4. Olivia, 437
5. Paula, 394		1. Mateo, 654
2. Martin, 593
3. Lucas, 552
4. Alejandro, 530
5. Daniel, 500
Valencia (community)
(10.7% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 378
2. Sofia, 368
3. Martina, 324
4. Maria, 270
5. Valeria, 265		1. Martin, 408
2. Mateo, 375
3. Marc, 354
4. Hugo, 336 (tie)
5. Lucas, 336 (tie)
Galicia
(5.7% of pop.)		1. Sofia, 170
2. Noa, 162
3. Martina, 140
4. Lara, 137
5. Valeria, 129		1. Mateo, 276
2. Martin, 261
3. Hugo, 198
4. Leo, 176
5. Lucas, 168
Castile and León
(5.0% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 171
2. Sofia, 139
3. Valeria, 126
4. Martina, 121
5. Daniela, 116		1. Martin, 187 (tie)
2. Mateo, 187 (tie)
3. Hugo, 157
4. Lucas, 147
5. Daniel, 146
Canary Islands
(4.7% of pop.)		1. Martina, 131
2. Lucia, 113
3. Sofia, 109
4. Valeria, 86
5. Chloe, 83		1. Mateo, 152
2. Hugo, 124
3. Thiago, 114
4. Leo, 112
5. Lucas, 93
Basque Country
(4.6% of pop.)		1. Ane, 149
2. Laia, 135
3. June, 121
4. Nahia, 113
5. Maddi/Malen, 97 (tie)		1. Markel, 155
2. Martin, 143
3. Julen, 141
4. Oihan, 131
5. Jon, 118
Castilla-La Mancha
(4.3% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 206
2. Valeria, 172
3. Martina, 149
4. Sofia, 144
5. Maria, 143		1. Martin, 217
2. Hugo, 200
3. Mateo, 199
4. Lucas, 172
5. Daniel, 155
Murcia
(3.2% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 173
2. Maria, 167
3. Sofia, 143
4. Valeria, 133
5. Martina, 122		1. Hugo, 177
2. Pablo, 152
3. Alejandro, 129
4. Martin, 125
5. Leo, 122
Aragon
(2.8% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 125
2. Martina, 80 (tie)
3. Valeria, 80 (tie)
4. Vega, 78
5. Sofia, 74		1. Martin, 112 (tie)
2. Mateo, 112 (tie)
3. Hugo, 108
4. Lucas, 93
5. Leo, 88
Balearic Islands
(2.6% of pop.)		1. Martina, 93
2. Julia, 90
3. Emma, 75
4. Maria, 66
5. Lucia, 64		1. Marc, 146
2. Pau, 95
3. Hugo, 90
4. Lucas, 63
5. Marti, 62
Extremadura
(2.2% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 114
2. Martina, 101
3. Maria, 83 (tie)
4. Valeria, 83 (tie)
5. Paula, 81		1. Manuel, 129
2. Martin, 104
3. Alvaro, 94
4. Hugo, 92
5. Daniel, 84
Asturias
(2.1% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 62
2. Valeria, 57
3. Martina, 53
4. Lara, 46
5. Sofia, 44		1. Martin, 83
2. Mateo, 68
3. Lucas, 64
4. Hugo, 57
5. Marco, 50
Navarre
(1.4% of pop.)		1. Nahia, 37
2. Ane, 36 (tie)
3. Irati, 36 (tie)
4. Lucia, 35
5. Martina, 34		1. Martin, 48
2. Mateo, 46
3. Julen, 37
4. Hugo, 36 (tie)
5. Leo, 36 (tie)
Cantabria
(1.2% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 48
2. Sofia, 41
3. Martina, 40
4. Vega, 36
5. Valeria, 35		1. Mateo, 60
2. Martin, 53
3. Hugo, 47
4. Leo, 46
5. Lucas, 44
La Rioja
(0.7% of pop.)		1. Lucia, 28
2. Sofia, 26
3. Martina, 21
4. Julia, 19
5. Carmen/Maria/Valeria, 16 (tie)		1. Martin, 33 (tie)
2. Mateo, 33 (tie)
3. Daniel, 26 (tie)
4. Hugo, 26 (tie)
5. Pablo, 22

The top baby names within each of Spain’s two autonomous cities (in Africa) were…

Girl NamesBoy Names
Melilla
(0.2% of the population)		1. Amira, 15
2. Nour, 9
3. Noha, 8
4. Malak/Maryam/Tasnim, 7 (tie)		1. Amir, 20
2. Adam, 15
3. Mohamed, 14
4. Imran, 13
5. Maher, 12
Ceuta
(0.2% of pop.)		1. Amira, 10
2. Jimena, 6 (tie)
3. Zaira, 6 (tie)
4. Martina/Noor/Suyud, 5 (tie)		1. Mohamed, 17
2. Amir, 13
3. Akram, 9
4. Maher, 8 (tie)
5. Omar, 8 (tie)

Finally, here’s a link to Spain’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Apellidos y nombres más frecuentes – INEbase, Population of Spain in 2022, by autonomous community – Statista, Spain – Wikipedia
Map: Adapted from Autonomous communities of Spain no names by Habbit under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular baby names in Brazil, 2021

brazil

According to Brazil’s Transparência do Registro Civil (part of Arpen-Brasil), the most popular baby names in the country in 2021 were Helena and Miguel.

Here are the Brazil’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Helena, 21,890 baby girls
  2. Alice, 20,381
  3. Laura, 18,448
  4. Maria Alice, 14,677
  5. Valentina, 11,643
  6. Heloísa, 11,355
  7. Maria Clara, 10,980
  8. Maria Cecília, 10,850
  9. Maria Julia, 10,235
  10. Sophia, 10,163

Boy Names

  1. Miguel, 28,301 baby boys
  2. Arthur, 26,655
  3. Gael, 23,973
  4. Heitor, 22,368
  5. Theo, 19,853
  6. Davi, 18,304
  7. Gabriel, 17,159
  8. Bernardo, 15,935
  9. Samuel, 15,563
  10. João Miguel, 13,254

The swift rise of Gael is notable. In 2019, Gael wasn’t even in the boys’ top 50. But the name shot up to 10th place in 2020, then jumped to 3rd in 2021. (Anyone out there have any theories about the sudden trendiness of Gael in Brazil?)

In 2020, the top two names were also Helena and Miguel. In 2019, they were Enzo Gabriel and Maria Eduarda.

Sources: Miguel e Helena são os nomes mais registrados no Brasil em 2021; veja lista, Enzo? Valentina? Veja nomes mais comuns registrados em 2021

Popular baby names in Mexico, 2020

Mexico

According to Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were Sofía and Santiago.

Here are Mexico’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Sofía
  2. María José
  3. Valentina
  4. Ximena
  5. Regina
  6. Camila
  7. María Fernanda
  8. Valeria
  9. Renata
  10. Victoria

Boy Names

  1. Santiago
  2. Mateo
  3. Sebastián
  4. Leonardo
  5. Matías
  6. Emiliano
  7. Diego
  8. Miguel Ángel
  9. Daniel
  10. Alexander

More than 1.6 million babies were born in Mexico in 2020, and over 400,000 different baby names (260,000 female and 160,000 male) were registered.

I’ve never published a set of rankings for Mexico before, but my source mentioned that the top two names in 2019 were the same.

Source: Top 10 de los nombres más populares entre los mexicanos para sus hijos

Popular baby names in Brazil, 2019

brazil

According to Brazil’s Transparência do Registro Civil (part of Arpen-Brasil), the most popular baby names in the country in 2019 were Enzo Gabriel and Maria Eduarda.

Here are Brazil’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Maria Eduarda, 12,063 baby girls
  2. Maria Clara, 10,751
  3. Maria Cecilia, 9,570
  4. Maria Julia, 9,448
  5. Maria Luiza, 9,132
  6. Ana Clara, 8,452
  7. Maria Alice, 8,388
  8. Ana Julia, 8,232
  9. Helena, 7,765
  10. Alice, 6,660

Boy Names

  1. Enzo Gabriel, 16,672 baby boys
  2. João Miguel, 15,082
  3. Pedro Henrique, 11,103
  4. Miguel, 9,436
  5. Arthur, 8,525
  6. João Pedro, 8,372
  7. Heitor, 6,829
  8. João Lucas, 6,557
  9. Davi Lucas, 6,543
  10. Davi Lucca, 6,010

These rankings are based on provisional data covering 2019 up to December 19th. (By that date, 4,472,331 babies had been born in Brazil, which is currently the 6th-most-populated country in the world.)

I’ve never posted the Brazilian rankings before, but other sources says that the top two names (Maria Eduarda and Enzo Gabriel) were the same in 2018.

Sources: Enzo Gabriel, João Miguel e Maria Eduarda são os nomes mais registrados no Brasil em 2019, See the most registered name in Brazil, List of countries and dependencies by population – Wikipedia