Baby Name: Santiago

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:

1. María, 1,260 babies
   • María was used 858 times as a first name and 402 times as a second name.
2. Juan, 1,023
   • Juan was used 980 times as a first name and 43 times as a second name.
3. Benjamín, 925
4. Maria, 889
5. Isabella, 798
6. Mateo, 778
7. Valentina, 725
8. Emma, 722
9. Martina, 706
10. Catalina, 658
11. Julieta, 644
12. Felipe, 631
13. Sofía, 624
14. Valentín, 615
15. Ezequiel, 561
16. Nicolás, 541
17. Lorenzo, 535
18. Emilia, 513
19. Agustín, 487 (tie)
20. Bautista, 487 (tie)
21. Belén, 477
22. Daniel, 459
23. Manuel, 450
24. Alejandro, 433
25. Santiago, 429
26. Francisco, 426
27. Delfina, 422
28. Lautaro, 421 (tie)
29. Agustina, 421 (tie)
30. Santino, 419
31. Carlos, 417
32. Lucas, 413
33. Valentino, 411
34. Dante, 407
35. Josefina, 393
36. Luis, 392
37. Ignacio, 389 (tie)
38. Gabriel, 389 (tie)
39. Joaquín, 385
40. Olivia, 380
41. José, 374
42. Thiago, 359
43. Emiliano, 352
44. Gael, 343
45. Victoria, 341
46. Francesca, 325
47. Alberto, 324
48. Tomás, 318
49. Sebastián, 315
50. Renata, 312
51. David, 308
52. Jose, 302
53. Martín, 301
54. Zoe, 296
55. Bastian, 290
56. Samuel, 288
57. Milagros, 286
58. Eduardo, 284
59. Pilar, 280 (tie)
60. Paulina, 280 (tie)
61. Bruno, 278
62. Alexander, 275 (tie)
63. Ana, 275 (tie)
64. Clara, 271
65. Facundo, 267
66. Emily, 261 (tie)
67. Pedro, 261 (tie)
68. Benjamin, 259
69. Antonio, 257 (tie)
70. Alfonsina, 257 (tie)
71. Guadalupe, 255
72. Sofia, 254 (tie)
73. Vicente, 254 (tie)
74. Pablo, 254 (tie)
75. Federico, 253
76. Emanuel, 251
77. Diego, 249
78. Jorge, 240
79. Javier, 239
80. Salvador, 235
81. Rafael, 230
82. Fernando, 229
83. Nahuel, 228
84. Jazmín, 226
85. Luciano, 223
86. Liam, 222
87. Paz, 218
88. Camila, 217
89. Maite, 216
90. Andrés, 207
91. Ismael, 206 (tie)
92. Miguel, 206 (tie)
93. Alma, 205
94. Noah, 204
95. Mía, 203
96. Lucía, 202 (tie)
97. Benicio, 202 (tie)
98. Mia, 201
99. Franco, 198
100. Nicolas, 195
101. Bianca, 194
102. Isabel, 193
103. Juana, 191
104. Camilo, 190
105. Tadeo, 188
106. Enzo, 187
107. Guillermo, 186
108. Cataleya, 183
109. Alejandra, 181 (tie)
110. Sebastian, 181 (tie)
111. Florencia, 179
112. Carolina, 175
113. Enrique, 172
114. Ramiro, 171
115. Alfonso, 167
116. Faustino, 166
117. Ámbar, 164 (4-way tie)
118. Beatriz, 164 (4-way tie)
119. Logan, 164 (4-way tie)
120. Marcelo, 164 (4-way tie)
121. Matías, 161 (tie)
122. Ciro, 161 (tie)
123. Aitana, 160 (tie)
124. Antonella, 160 (tie)
125. Angel, 159 (tie)
126. Nahitan, 159 (tie)
127. Nicole, 158
128. Andrea, 156 (tie)
129. 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)