Alonzo
Masculine
Alonzo is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 45,955 boys against 154 girls since 1880.
Alonzo comes down from the Visigothic kings of Spain by way of Alfonso and its shortened Spanish cousin Alonso, picking up its z somewhere along the road into Italian and English. It is the name Cervantes gave to the quiet gentleman behind Don Quixote — Alonso Quijano. Three open vowels and a landing on -zo: it says itself in full and shortens without effort.
How old is the name Alonzo?
Alonzo was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Alonzo alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 32,000 people named Alonzo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alonzo most popular?
Alonzo peaked in 1880, reaching #110 nationally. Today it ranks #511, 401 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Alonzo appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Adalfuns to Alonzo
The story of Alonzo
The name begins as a Germanic compound carried into Iberia by the Visigoths, and it stuck: Alfonso became one of the great royal names of medieval Spain and Portugal, worn by kings of Castile, León, Aragon and Asturias for centuries. Ordinary Spanish speech wore Alfonso down to Alonso, and Alonso is the form that spread widest — including to the hidalgo of La Mancha in Cervantes' novel. Italian and later English hands wrote the same name with a z, and Alonzo is the spelling that traveled into the United States, where it has been in continuous use among English speakers for generations. Both spellings remain alive side by side.
Meaningscholars disagree
From Germanic roots usually read as "noble and ready"
The second element, funs ("eager, ready"), is agreed on. The first is not: most read it as adal, "noble," giving "noble and ready"; others trace it to hadu or hild, both meaning "battle," which would make it something nearer "ready for battle." All three are genuine Germanic name-elements, and all three were in circulation among the Visigoths.
How the name formed
- Adalfuns
- Alfonso
- Alonso
- Alonzo
Related forms: Alonso · Alfonso · Afonso · Alfonso · Alphonse · Alfons
Pronouncing Alonzo
uh-LON-zoh
Stress on the middle syllable. Spanish speakers say ah-LON-so with a lighter first vowel and an s sound for the z; both are correct for their own language.
Nicknames for Alonzo
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2022651 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #110reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −9.4%590 in 2025, from 651
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alonzo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alonso in Spanish — spelling variant
- Alfonso in Spanish — related form
- Afonso in Portuguese — related form
- Alfonso in Italian — related form
- Alphonse in French — related form
- Alfons in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Illinois.
Alonzos among us
people named Alonzo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,895 born in 2025 was named Alonzo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Alonzo sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Alonzo is headed
Alonzo should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Alonzo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alonzo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented line running from Visigothic Iberia through the medieval Spanish and Portuguese kings to the present — few names have a record that clear.
- Sits comfortably in English and Spanish alike, with close relatives in Italian, Portuguese, French and German.
- Ready-made short forms already in real use: Lonzo, Zo, Lonnie, Al.
- Long enough to feel full, short enough to say quickly, with stress that falls the same way in every accent.
- Alonzo and Alonso are both established spellings, so expect a lifetime of gentle corrections — the z version will get written with an s and vice versa.
- It is strongly represented among older generations, which means most people who know an Alonzo know a grown man rather than a child. That fades as any name comes back around, but it is true right now.
- A child with this name will most likely be the only one wherever he goes. That is a real pleasure for some families and a small burden for others — being the only one means always being the one who explains.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Alonzo to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Alonzo? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Alonzo
Masculine · #511 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Alonzos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 32,000 people named Alonzo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alonzo in 2025?
- Alonzo ranks #511 among US boy names in 2025, with 590 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alonzo?
- About 1 in every 2,895 US boys born in 2025 was named Alonzo — 590 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alonzo with classmates?
- Alonzo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alonzo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Corbin#512 · Leonidas#510 · Alexis#513 · Frank#513 · Johnathan#508 · Kyle#508 · Cillian#507 · Moses#515
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alonzo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alonzo and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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