Perfecto
Masculine · “Perfect”
Perfecto is a Spanish adjective used as a name, and Spanish does this far more readily than English — a whole class of men's names are simply virtues, handed over without any softening.
How old is the name Perfecto?
Perfecto first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Perfecto alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 500 people named Perfecto are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Perfecto most popular?
Perfecto peaked in 1906, reaching #1253 nationally. See the whole 1906 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Perfectus to Perfecto
The story of Perfecto
Look at the company it keeps: Inocencio, Modesto, Justo, Casto, Prudencio, Feliciano. Spanish and Italian give adjectives and virtues to sons directly, and the practice is old, church-driven and entirely unembarrassed — English has almost nothing equivalent for men, though it has plenty for women. The word has a second life in English that most Americans meet first: a perfecto is a cigar shape, tapered at both ends, and the term was a trade description before any brand used it. So the name that means completed in Spanish reaches English-speaking ears attached to tobacco, which is a fair example of how far a word can travel from what it says.
Meaning
Perfect, complete
The Latin word means finished or brought to completion rather than flawless — the modern English sense of perfection is narrower than the original. As a name it belongs to a set given in Catholic countries as a hope or a dedication.
How the name formed
- Perfectus
- Perfecto
Related forms: Perfecto · Perfetto · Perfeito
Pronouncing Perfecto
per-FEK-toh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Spanish gives the final o its full value.
Nicknames for Perfecto
Moderate
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
- 1906
- Most boys named
- 196419 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1253reached in 1906
- Change vs 2008
- −37.5%5 in 2011, from 8
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.
Perfecto in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Perfecto in Spanish — same name
- Perfetto in Italian — same name
- Perfeito in Portuguese — same name
Perfectos among us
people named Perfecto are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Perfecto sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is transparent to every Spanish and Italian speaker.
- It is read correctly on sight by English speakers too.
- It belongs to a long and well-established naming tradition.
- In English the word is an adjective and a superlative, which is a heavy thing to carry.
- It will be treated as a joke by people who do not know the tradition.
- It is closely tied to one generation of Spanish-speaking American families.
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Perfecto
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Perfectos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Perfecto are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Perfecto in 2025?
- Perfecto is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Perfecto with classmates?
- Perfecto will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Perfecto? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Perfecto and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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