Most Popular Baby Boy Names in Spain 2024 and Their Meanings (INE)

Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) published the names given to babies born in 2024 on 19 November 2025. Among boys, the list now has a new name at the top: Mateo, with 3,289 babies. This is the most recent official data available; going by INE's usual timetable, the 2025 list is not expected until around November 2026.

Below you will find the top 30 boys' names of 2024 with their meaning, origin, Arabic spelling and Abjad value. First, four quick notes that make the list easier to read.

2024 in Thirty Seconds

• A new leader: Mateo climbed from 2nd to 1st. Hugo was given to 392 fewer babies (3,126 → 2,734), leaving a gap of 555 between the two names.
• Fastest climber in the top 30: Gonzalo rose from 20th to 14th and also recorded the largest increase in the top 30 (+232 babies).
• A top-10 place decided by four babies: Álvaro (1,949) and Daniel (1,945) finished 10th and 11th. Daniel was 7th in 2021.
• A more spread-out list: 18 of the top 30 names were given to fewer babies than in 2023, 12 to more. The top 100 names together cover 52.9% of the 163,732 boys born in 2024.

Four Years at the Top

In INE's 2021–2024 data the top three places have rotated among the same three names. The table shows each year's top three with the number of babies:

Martín held first place for two years, Hugo took it in 2023 and Mateo in 2024. Over these four years Mateo went 3rd, 2nd, 2nd and finally 1st, his first time at the top in the data we hold.

The 30 Most Popular Boys' Names in Spain, 2024

The Abjad value is calculated from the established Arabic-script spelling of each name, using plain letter values (the article ال, shadda and vowel marks are not counted). For a name written in Latin letters, the value depends on that spelling: change the spelling and the value changes too.

Risers and Fallers

Within the top 30, the biggest climbers after Gonzalo were Luca (17 → 13, +139 babies) and Gael, Nicolás and Juan, which each rose three places. Going the other way, the steepest falls in the top 30 were Adrián, Diego and David, four places each. Within the top 30, the number of babies fell most for Hugo (−392), Martín (−224), Diego (−190) and Lucas (−166).

Two names entered the top 30: Juan moved from 31st to 28th and Gabriel from 32nd to 30th. Making room for them were Izan (27 → 32) and Javier (30 → 31). Aleix, Aran and Máximo entered the top 100; for Máximo it is the first appearance in the 2021–2024 data. INE does not comment on the reasons for these shifts, and neither do we.

From Jacob to Thiago, from Jibril to Gabriel

Many names on the list have a counterpart in Islamic tradition:

• Gabriel is the Western form of the archangel Jibril; the name جبريل appears in the Qur'an at al-Baqara 2:97. Miguel is the Spanish form of Mika'il, the angel named in the Qur'an in the next verse (al-Baqara 2:98); the mushaf (Hafs) spelling is ميكال (Mīkāl) = 101, the common Arabic form ميكائيل (Mīkā'īl) = 121.
• Juan is the biblical John, identified in Islamic tradition with Yahya (John the Baptist). David is the name of the prophet Dawud.
• Mateo, Lucas and Marcos are the names of the Gospel writers Matthew, Luke and Mark; they do not appear in the Qur'an.
• Thiago is a Portuguese-derived form of Jacob (Ya'qub) and is related to Santiago ("Saint James"), also in the top 100. Added together, purely as an illustration, the two were given to 2,318 babies in 2024. Some sources also link Diego to Santiago, but that origin is not certain.

Outside the top 30, Noah (Nuh, 40th), Adam (41st), Isaac (Ishaq, 71st) and Ismael (Isma'il, 87th) are also in the top 100. Among names of Arabic origin, Amir rose from 61st to 53rd while Mohamed fell from 53rd to 62nd (582 → 500). Because INE counts every spelling separately, Mohamed is the only spelling of the Prophet Muhammad's name in the top 100.

An Abjad Window: Mateo or Matta?

The two Arabic spellings of the number-one name show nicely why spelling matters in Abjad. In modern Arabic the Spanish Mateo is written ماتيو: م 40 + ا 1 + ت 400 + ي 10 + و 6 = 457. The Matthew of the Arabic Bible, however, is written متى: م 40 + ت 400 + ى 10 = 450. Two traditions of the same name, seven apart.

• Seven names above 1,000: Thiago 1417, Gabriel 1253, Gonzalo 1100, Miguel 1090, Gael 1041, Diego 1030, Hugo 1017. Each contains غ, worth 1000, which renders the Spanish "g" sound; no other name in the top 30 has it.
• The lowest values: Pablo بابلو 41, Leo ليو 46, Luca لوكا 57.
• One letter, 60 points: Luca is 57; add س and Lucas becomes 117. Marco ماركو is 267, Marcos ماركوس 327.
• Same value: the only pair in the top 30 sharing a value is Oliver and Marcos (327). Manuel's 137, meanwhile, equals لوقا, the Arabic Bible's spelling of Luke.
• Traditional equivalents: Gabriel غابرييل is 1253, but the Qur'anic جبريل is 245; David ديفيد 108, دافيد 99, Dawud داود 15; Juan خوان 657, Yahya يحيى 38.
• First letters of the top 10: under the classical classification used in the site's reports, seven begin with a Fire letter (three م, three alifs and one ه), two with Earth (ل) and one with Air (ب); none begins with a Water letter. Some authors use a different classification.

None of these differences makes one spelling "luckier". What they show is that the spelling has to be fixed first. And a name's value on its own is not an analysis; the real question is how its letters combine with the names of the mother and father.

Three Checks for a Family in Madrid

Imagine a family in Madrid, bilingual at home, torn between Gabriel and Miguel. Both are in the top 30 and both have a counterpart in Islamic tradition. Three questions help before deciding:

1. Which spelling? Gabriel is 1253 as غابرييل and 245 as جبريل. It should be clear from the start which one the calculation uses.
2. How does it sound in both languages? Miguel may be "Mi-gel" at school and Mika'il at home; whether the family wants that double life matters.
3. How does it fit the family? The value says little by itself; it has to be read together with the parents' names.

In the Baby Name Finder & Analysis report, the mother's and father's names are examined letter by letter, the family's element map is drawn up, and matching name suggestions are listed with their Abjad value, element, meaning and family compatibility percentage. If you already have a name in mind, the Baby Name Family Compatibility report shows the mother–father, mother–baby and father–baby compatibility scores and the family's energy map.

Source: Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE), Birth Statistics — names of newborns (Nombres de los recién nacidos), final 2024 data (published 19 November 2025). The figures show boys born in Spain in 2024 who were given each name; different spellings are counted separately. Abjad readings are a traditional method of interpretation; no one can claim that a name determines a child's future, and the final decision always rests with the family.