Head to head · Boys' names
Major vs Mauricio
#669 vs #663 in 2025
Mauricio is a whisker ahead (#663 vs #669 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mauricio is holding its place on the charts, Major is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Mauricio leads 3 measures of 6; Major leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Major #274, Mauricio #984 — Major higher
- 1890s: Major #287, Mauricio — — Major higher
- 1900s: Major #338, Mauricio — — Major higher
- 1910s: Major #446, Mauricio #2775 — Major higher
- 1920s: Major #512, Mauricio #2432 — Major higher
- 1930s: Major #573, Mauricio #2275 — Major higher
- 1940s: Major #586, Mauricio #1992 — Major higher
- 1950s: Major #688, Mauricio #1644 — Major higher
- 1960s: Major #902, Mauricio #950 — Major higher
- 1970s: Major #1128, Mauricio #707 — Mauricio higher
- 1980s: Major #1334, Mauricio #621 — Mauricio higher
- 1990s: Major #1967, Mauricio #505 — Mauricio higher
- 2000s: Major #1648, Mauricio #375 — Mauricio higher
- 2010s: Major #481, Mauricio #533 — Major higher
- 2020s: Major #494, Mauricio #658 — Major higher
Major stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Major has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Major | Mauricio |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #274 | #984 |
| 1890s | #287 | — |
| 1900s | #338 | — |
| 1910s | #446 | #2775 |
| 1920s | #512 | #2432 |
| 1930s | #573 | #2275 |
| 1940s | #586 | #1992 |
| 1950s | #688 | #1644 |
| 1960s | #902 | #950 |
| 1970s | #1128 | #707 |
| 1980s | #1334 | #621 |
| 1990s | #1967 | #505 |
| 2000s | #1648 | #375 |
| 2010s | #481 | #533 |
| 2020s | #494 | #658 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Major
greater, larger (Latin)
The root is Latin *maior*. Two routes carry it into English: the military rank, borrowed through French, and the surname Major — which in some families comes from that Latin status word and in others from the Norman personal name Mauger.
maior (Latin) → majour / major (Old French, Middle English) → Major
How it traveled
*Maior*, the Latin comparative of *magnus*, gave English both *mayor* and *major*, and the army rank arrived from French in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As a surname, Major has two threads: the Latin status word, and the Norman given name Mauger, carried into England after 1066.
Mauricio
Moorish, from Mauretania
The root is the Latin cognomen Maurus, used of someone from Mauretania in northwest Africa; it came to be read as 'dark-skinned'. The extended form Mauritius gave Maurice, Maurizio and Mauricio.
Maurus → Mauritius → Maurice → Mauricio
How it traveled
The Latin name Mauritius grew out of Maurus, a Roman byname marking someone as a Moor, from Mauretania in northwest Africa. It spread through Christian Europe with Saint Maurice, the Roman officer venerated as leader of the Theban Legion, whose shrine in the Swiss Alps gave the town of Saint-Maurice its name and whose cult made him a patron of soldiers across the medieval West.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Major
MAY-jer
Two syllables, stress on the first, exactly like the English word. No regional variation to speak of in the US.
- Maj — Occasional informal clipping; the name is short enough that most bearers are called by it in full.
Mauricio
mow-REE-see-oh
Four syllables, stress on the second. In Spanish the first syllable rhymes with 'now' and the c is a clean s; English speakers often shift it toward 'maw-REE-see-oh', which most bearers accept without fuss.
- Mau — The usual affectionate clip in Spanish-speaking families; informal, rarely written on documents.
- Mauri — Common short form in Spanish and Portuguese, used among friends and by older relatives alike.
- Mauro — Sometimes used as a short form, though it is also a full given name in its own right, straight from the same Latin root Maurus.
- Moe — Turns up in English-speaking settings, shared with Maurice and Moses; informal only.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Major if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMajor is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMajor is 2 syllables to Mauricio's 4
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Major (Maj)
- a long American recordMajor was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Mauricio if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMauricio runs 4 syllables, Major 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Mau, Mauri and Mauro
- a newer arrivalMauricio entered the US charts in 1885
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Major
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and already familiar as an English word — almost no one will ask how to write it or say it.
- Two clean syllables with a strong first beat, which sits easily against most one-syllable surnames.
- Part of a recognizable American naming tradition alongside Duke, Earl and King, so it has precedent rather than novelty behind it.
To consider
- People hear the military rank first, and will keep hearing it. Expect a lifetime of small jokes about promotions, and a particular tangle if he ever joins the service and is addressed by an actual rank.
- It is also an ordinary English word — a college major, major and minor, the major issue — so the name turns up in sentences that have nothing to do with him.
- Its use is noticeably concentrated in the South and Texas; elsewhere it will read as more unusual, and he is likely to be the only one in his class either way.
Mauricio
Strengths
- Recognized on sight across Spanish, Portuguese and Italian-speaking countries, and instantly linkable to Maurice for English speakers.
- One spelling dominates in Spanish, so it is written the same way in Mexico City, Madrid and Miami.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Mau, Mauri — that families have used for generations.
To consider
- In English-only settings the first syllable often gets flattened to 'maw', and some people will reach for Maurice or Morris instead. Most bearers end up deciding early which correction is worth making.
- Four syllables is a lot next to a short surname, and the -cio ending gets misspelled as -tio or -sio by people hearing it for the first time.
- The Portuguese spelling carries an accent, Maurício, which US forms and databases tend to drop.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Major and Mauricio in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Major and Mauricio — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Major or Mauricio — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Major or Mauricio?
- Mauricio, in 2025: Mauricio ranked #663 with 413 babies; Major ranked #669 with 407 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Major or Mauricio?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Major moved down 320 places; Mauricio moved down 32 places.
- Which is the older name, Major or Mauricio?
- Major was already in use when US records began in 1880; Mauricio entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Major is the older name.
- How many people are named Major and Mauricio?
- About 16,000 people named Major are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,000 people named Mauricio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Majors or Mauricios in the classroom?
- Major will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mauricio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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