Spanish Girl Names: a comprehensive guide

Spanish girl names have a timeless quality that transcends generations and cultures. From classic names like María and Carmen to trendy names like Luna and Sofía, Spanish female names have a unique blend of elegance and simplicity that makes them beloved worldwide.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll take you on a journey through the most popular, unique, and meaningful girl names in the Spanish language.

Popular Spanish girl names

There are many types of popular Spanish girl names. Some of them were born to last and have managed to remain popular for centuries.

Others began to be more popular over the last century and are still going strong, and there is a growing number of old-fashioned names that are making a comeback over recent years.

1 María

María is, perhaps, the most popular Spanish girl name there ever was. In the Christian tradition, María is the name of the mother of Jesus, and is considered a symbol of purity, grace, and devotion. As a result, the name has been a popular choice among Spanish-speaking parents for centuries.

This name is almost universal: variations of the name María exist in many other languages, each with its unique pronunciation and spelling. For instance, it is typically spelled Mary in English, while in French, it is spelled Marie.

2 Carmen

The name Carmen may have originated from the Latin word “carmen,” which means “song” or “poem”, and which is also the root of the English word “charm.” Another possible origin is the Hebrew word “karmel” meaning “God’s vineyard”, which is the name of a mountain range in northern Israel.

The popularity of the name Carmen has increased significantly since the premiere of the opera “Carmen” by French composer Georges Bizet in 1875. The opera tells the story of a seductive and passionate Spanish gypsy woman named Carmen, who seduces a naïve and jealous soldier and ultimately meets a tragic end.

3 Laura

The name Laura comes from the Latin word Laurus, which is the term for the plant called “bay leaf” in English. It originated in Ancient Greece, where it was customary to use bay-leaf crowns for the winners. This name is a good starting point for those who want to succeed in life.

4 Josefa

Josefa is one of those old-fashioned Spanish names that have made a very recent comeback. The regular Spanish person would probably be surprised to know that it is growing in popularity. It is the feminine version of José and it is a biblical name.

5 Isabel

Isabel is a classic among Spanish names. It comes from Hebrew and it means “God’s promise”. As a fun fact, it was also the name of a Spanish queen who started her reign when she was only 13.

6 Ana

Like María, Ana (or Anne in English) is also a bit of a universal name since it has translations in many different languages. It is simple but effective, and it means “compassionate” in Hebrew.

7 Marta

Martha in English, this popular Spanish girl name has two meanings to choose from. It comes from Aramaic and it means “mistress” or “lady”.

8 Cristina

The name Cristina became popular during the Middle Ages and has stayed popular ever since. It means “God’s follower”, or “anointed by God”.

9 Lucía

The Spanish name Lucia originates from the ancient Latin language spoken by the Romans. It is the female form of the classical Latin name Lucius.

These names are derived from the Latin word lux, which means “light”, and the name Lucia was used for girls who were born with the first beams of sunshine.

10 Martina

Martina is a very modern Spanish girl name that started to gain popularity over the last few years. It is the feminine version of Mars, the Roman god of war.

11 Sofía

This popular Spanish name originally comes from the Greek word Sophia, which means wisdom.

12 Valeria

Valeria is a powerful girl's name. It means “brave woman” in Latin, and it used to be the name of a Patrician family during the Roman era. There was even an empress, Valeria Maximila, who went by this name.

13 Sara

Sara has been a popular name in Spain for many decades and it seems to be here to stay. It comes from Hebrew and it means “princess”, and it can be traced back to the bible, where Sarah was the name of Abraham’s wife.

14 Paula

Before being a Spanish name, Paula was an Ancient Latin name. It originates from the Latin adjective paulus, which means “small”. It is a popular name among the younger generation of Spanish girls.

15 Julia

The name Julia exists in English as well, although it is pronounced differently in Spanish. It is the feminine form of the name “Julius”.

It comes from the ancient Greek word hioylos. This is a very interesting word, as it means youth, but refers to the kind of soft curly hair that Greek men got when they first started growing a beard.

16 Carla

Carla is a strong Spanish girl name of Germanic origin. It means either “the one who is free” or a “strong and brave woman”.

17 Andrea

Andrea is a popular name in Spain. This girl's name is the female version of Andrés, and it comes from “andros” in Greek. It originally means “male”, although we could say it means “female” since it is the feminine version.

The name Andrea is also a typical Basque name, and it is the Basque word for “woman”.

Beautiful Spanish girl names

Some names just have a ring to them. Sometimes it is because of a beautiful meaning, other times because of a striking or soft pronunciation, but most of the time one cannot explain why a name just sounds more beautiful. Here is a list of those beautiful Spanish girl names.

18 Alba

Alba is a beautiful sounding name which also has a beautiful meaning: the word alba in Spanish means “dawn”, the moment when the sky begins to light up in the morning right before the sun rises, and comes from the Latin word albus which means “white” or “bright”.

19 Lara

The name Lara comes from Latin. It was originally a mythological being who was in charge of protecting the household and the family.

20 Lola

The name Lola is a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, it has a beautiful sound. On the other hand, it comes from the name Dolores, which means “pain” in Spanish, or “the one who suffers from pain”. But hey, humans are full of contradictions anyway.

21 Natalia

For those who love Christmas, Natalia is the perfect Spanish name. This word is strongly associated with Christmas Day, as it comes from Latin and means “birth”. In fact, natal is the word for Christmas in Portuguese.

22 Alma

The name Alma has a beautiful meaning, in addition to sounding pretty: in Spanish, the word alma means “soul”. That Spanish word can be traced back to the Latin term animus meaning “life force” or “soul”.

23 Elena

Elena, or Helen in English, is a well-known and well-loved Spanish girl name. Although originally Greek, it became popular through a Roman empress, who later became a saint and is known for finding a piece of Jesus Christ’s cross.

The name Helen does not seem as popular as it used to be in the English-speaking world, so why not give it a fresh new look in its beautiful Spanish form?

24 Nuria

Nuria is the Spanish spelling of the Catalan name Núria. This girl’s name originates from the name of a valley located in Catalonia beside the Pyrenees mountains: the valley of Núria.

25 Rocío

The female name Rocío has a beautiful meaning as it originates from the Spanish word rocío which means “dew” (the tiny droplets of water which appear on plants in the morning).

26 Clara

The name Clara is beautiful in sound and meaning, as it is Spanish for “clear” or “bright”. It originally stems from the Latin word clarus, which has the same meaning.

27 Silvia

Silvia is a Spanish name that comes from the Latin word silva which means “wood” or “forest”, and which can also figuratively mean “abundance”.

28 Beatriz

This Spanish girl's name is also known in its cute short form, Bea. It comes from the Latin name Beatrix, which is most likely to come from the Latin word viator (traveler in English).

29 Claudia

The name Claudia has an interesting meaning. It derives from the word claudus in Latin, which means “limping” or “lame”. It was the name of one of the most prominent patrician houses in ancient Rome.

30 Angela

Angela is like the female version of an angel in English. It comes from Greek and can be defined as “God’s messenger”.

31 Pilar

The Spanish name Pilar is related to Catholicism. It is a shortened form of “María del Pilar”. The Spanish city of Zaragoza has a Cathedral named Nuestra Señora del Pilar.

32 Teresa

This beautiful Spanish girl's name has Greek roots, although it is uncertain whether it comes from the Greek word for harvest, therizo, or the word theros, meaning summer. Either way, it is perfect for those born on a beautiful sunny day.

Rare Spanish girl names

Some names in this list may sound unfamiliar even to Spanish people, and others will seem a little bit strange. However, sometimes what we are looking for is not out there in plain sight. Here are some potential hidden gems waiting to be uncovered.

33 Ayelen

Ayelen is an indigenous Spanish girl's name. It comes from the Mapuche people, who live in Chile and Argentina, and it means “joy” in their language.

34 Gadea

This rare Spanish girl's name comes from the Greek word agathos, which means “kind” or “good”. The name Agatha in English also comes from the same Greek root.

35 Delia

Delos is a beautiful island located in Greece. Matching its beauty, the Spanish name Delia means “native to Delos”, and is known to be the epithet of Artemis, the Greek moon goddess. This name is suitable for all the romantics out there.

36 Mara

How the name Mara came to be in Spain is uncertain, as it has several possible origins. It could be interpreted as a form of the name María, but it is also a biblical name. It means “bitter” or “grief” in Hebrew, which is slightly bittersweet considering it is a beautiful name.

37 Jara

Jara is the name of a Mediterranean flower also known as “rockrose” in English. While this name also exists in Arabic and Hindu cultures, it is uncommon for Spanish speakers.

38 Coral

Coral is the ideal name for people who love the sea. As you could have guessed because of its similarity in English, it means “coral reef”.

39 Úrsula

Úrsula was a bit of a rare name until the actress from Money Heist, Úrsula Corberó, made it popular. It comes from the Latin word ursus, which means bear.

40 Gala

The name Gala is uncommon in Spain although not unheard of. It most likely comes from the Gallic tribes, which inhabited France from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD.

41 Alondra

This rare girl's name is also the name of a common type of bird in Spain, known as the skylark in English.

42 Africa, Asia, América

Although rare, being named after these continents is not unheard of in Spain. In fact, if you think about it they do make for quite nice-sounding names.

Conclusion

Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world. As such, Spanish names stand in a comfortable balance between something more original but still familiar enough to be recognizable in other countries.

If you are looking for that balance, this article provides a wide variety of names that will hopefully help you on your quest for the right name.

Editor’s note: There is also a guide to Basque Girl Names written by the same author.