Refugio
Masculine · “Refuge”
Refugio is given to both — 3,984 boys and 863 girls since 1880. See Refugio as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Refugio is the Spanish word for a refuge, given as a name to both sexes, and in Texas it is also a town, a county and the last mission the Spanish built in the province.
How old is the name Refugio?
Refugio first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Refugio alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 2,300 people named Refugio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Refugio most popular?
Refugio peaked in 1927, reaching #786 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 7,457 places below that high. See the whole 1927 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Refugio
The last mission founded in Spanish Texas was named for the refuge, built near the coast in the seventeen-nineties, moved twice because of flooding and raids, and abandoned within a generation when the mission system collapsed. The town that grew on the site kept the name, then gave it to the county, and the county gave it to a good many children — so a Spanish abstract noun ended up as an ordinary Texan place name and then as an ordinary Texan first name. The g in the middle is a small trap for English speakers: before an i, Spanish says it in the throat, much closer to an h than to the g of go, and almost nobody outside the Southwest gets it right on first sight.
Meaning
Refuge, shelter
The Spanish noun, used as a name by way of a religious title. It is given to men and women alike in Mexico and the Southwest, which English-speaking record-keepers have never known what to do with.
Pronouncing Refugio
reh-FOO-hyoh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The g is said in the throat, like an h.
Nicknames for Refugio
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
- 1885
- Most boys named
- 192862 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #786reached in 1927
- Change vs 2023
- +50.0%9 in 2025, from 6
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.
Refugio in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Refugio in Spanish — same name
- Refúgio in Portuguese — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Refugios among us
people named Refugio are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Refugio
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Fredie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Refugio's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fredie climbed just as high around 1905, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fredie's path sketches the road Refugio is walking now.
Refugio 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
Refugio beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Refugio in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, generous and unambiguous in Spanish.
- It is a real place name in Texas with a documented history.
- It carries a household short form that sounds nothing like it.
- English speakers will say a hard g, which is not how the name is said.
- It is given to both sexes in Spanish, which American forms handle badly.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes here, with most of it going to boys.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Refugio
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Refugios are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,300 people named Refugio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Refugio in 2025?
- Refugio ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Refugio?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Refugio — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Refugio with classmates?
- Refugio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Refugio
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Refugio? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Refugio and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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