Placido
Masculine · “Calm”
The boy of this name was pulled out of a lake by a monk who did not notice he was walking on water. Placidus, sent to fetch water, fell in; Maurus was told to go after him, went, and had the child back on the bank before either of them worked out that he had run across the surface.
How old is the name Placido?
Placido first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Placido alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 600 people named Placido are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Placido most popular?
Placido peaked in 1907, reaching #1345 nationally. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From placidus to Placido
The story of Placido
The story is told in the second book of Gregory the Great's dialogues, which is the only life of Benedict there is, and it is characteristically brisk: the two monks argue politely on the bank afterwards about which of them deserved the credit, and Benedict awards it to the obedience of the one who went. The dialogues are a collection of miracle stories about Italian holy men written to encourage a country that had just been wrecked by war and plague, and their tone is closer to a book of anecdotes than to theology. They were among the most widely read books in medieval Europe.
Meaning
Calm, gentle
Latin placidus, quiet or agreeable, from a verb meaning to please. The name was borne by an early disciple of Benedict and is standard across the Spanish and Italian speaking world; the accent falls on the first syllable in both, which English readers regularly move.
How the name formed
- placidus
- Placido
Related forms: Placido · Placido · Placido
Pronouncing Placido
PLAH-see-doh
Three syllables with the stress at the front, which the written accent marks in Spanish and which English readers move to the middle if nothing stops them.
Nicknames for Placido
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
- 1907
- Most boys named
- 192323 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1345reached in 1907
- Change vs 2015
- 0.0%5 in 2021, from 5
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.
Placido in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Placido in Spanish — same name
- Placido in Italian — same name
- Placido in Portuguese — same name
Placidos among us
people named Placido 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
Placido 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 warm, single-word and easy to give a child.
- It is a standard name across three languages rather than a construction.
- The word placid is close enough in English to make the sense obvious.
- English speakers move the stress to the middle syllable unless corrected.
- The written accent is dropped by American records, which removes the only guide.
- Placid is a mildly backhanded compliment in English and the association is live.
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What they receive
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Placido
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Placidos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Placido are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Placido in 2025?
- Placido is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Placido with classmates?
- Placido 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 Placido? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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