Latin American Spanish Origin Names

Alondra f Spanish (Latin American)
Derived from Spanish alondra meaning "lark".

Altagracia f Spanish (Caribbean)
Means "high grace", taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, meaning "Our Lady of High Grace". She is considered the patron saint of the Dominican Republic, and it is there that this name is most often used.

Anahí f Spanish (Latin American)
Possibly from the Guarani name for the cockspur coral tree (species Erythrina crista-galli). In a Guarani legend this is the name of a young woman burned at the stake by the conquistadors, after which she is transformed into the flowering tree.

Betania f Spanish (Latin American)
Spanish form of Bethany.

Bethania f Spanish (Latin American)
Spanish variant form of Bethany.

Bolívar m Spanish (Latin American)
From a surname that was taken from the Basque place name Bolibar, which was derived from bolu "mill" and ibar "riverside". A famous bearer of the surname was Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), a South American revolutionary leader, after whom the country of Bolivia is named.

Cristal f Spanish (Latin American)
Spanish form of Crystal.

Daleyza f American (Hispanic, Modern)
Meaning uncertain, perhaps an elaboration of Dalia 1. This name was used by Mexican-American musician Larry Hernandez for his daughter born 2010.

Dalia 1 f Spanish (Latin American), Arabic
Spanish and Arabic form of Dahlia. The Dahlia is the national flower of Mexico.

Édison m Spanish (Latin American)
Spanish form of Edison.

Edison m English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), Albanian
From an English surname that meant either "son of Eda 2" or "son of Adam". A famous bearer of the surname was the American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931).

Eneida f Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American)
From the Portuguese and Spanish name of the Aeneid (see Aeneas).

Iridián f Spanish (Mexican, Modern)
Means "related to Iris or rainbows", ultimately from Greek ἶρις (genitive ἴριδος). It briefly entered the American top 1000 list in 1995, likely due to a Mexican singer named Iridián.

Jesenia f Spanish (Latin American)
Variant of Yesenia.

Jessenia f Spanish (Latin American)
Variant of Yesenia.

Lady f Spanish (Latin American)
From the English noble title Lady, derived from Old English hlæfdige, originally meaning "bread kneader". This name grew in popularity in Latin America after the marriage of Diana Spencer, known as Lady Di, to Prince Charles in 1981 and her death in 1997.

Lucero f & m Spanish (Mexican), Spanish (Latin American)
Means "light source, bright star, morning star" in Spanish, a derivative of luz "light". Occasionally it is used as a diminutive of the name Luz. It is most common in Mexico and Colombia.

Luján f Spanish (Latin American)
From a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Luján, meaning "Our Lady of Luján". This is the name of a city in Argentina near Buenos Aires. Our Lady of Luján is a 17th-century statue of Mary. Supposedly the horses transporting the statue further into Argentina refused to pull the cart past Luján, so a shrine was built at the spot. She is regarded as a patron saint of Argentina.

Milton m English, Spanish (Latin American)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote Paradise Lost.

Nubia f Spanish (Latin American)
From the name of the ancient region and kingdom in Africa, south of Egypt. It possibly derives from the Egyptian word nbw meaning "gold".

Santana f & m Spanish (Latin American), Portuguese (Brazilian), English (Modern)
From a contraction of Santa Ana (referring to Saint Anna) or from a Spanish and Portuguese surname derived from any of the numerous places named for the saint. It can be given in honour of the Mexican-American musician Carlos Santana (1947-), the founder of the band Santana. The name received a boost in popularity for American girls after the character Santana Andrade began appearing on the soap opera Santa Barbara in 1984.

Virgen f Spanish (Latin American)
Means "virgin" in Spanish, used in honour of the Virgin Mary.

Yadira f Spanish (Latin American), American (Hispanic)
Meaning unknown, possibly derived from an Arabic name. It has been used in Mexico since at least the 1940s, perhaps inspired by the Colombian actress Yadira Jiménez (1928-?), who performed in Mexican films beginning in 1946.

Yesenia f Spanish (Latin American)
From Jessenia, the genus name of a variety of palm trees found in South America. As a given name, it was popularized by the writer Yolanda Vargas Dulché in the 1970 Mexican telenovela Yesenia and the 1971 film adaptation.

Yeseniya f Russian
Russian form of Yesenia. The 1971 Mexican movie was extremely popular in the Soviet Union.

Yessenia f Spanish (Latin American)
Variant of Yesenia.

Yunuen f & m Spanish (Mexican)
Meaning unknown, probably of indigenous (maybe Purépecha) origin. This is the name of an island on Lake Pátzcuaro in Mexico.

Zaray f Spanish (Latin American)
Meaning unknown.