| Alvaro | Ignacio | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | All-guard | Fiery |
| Origin | Spanish | spanish |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | AHL-vah-roh | eeg-NAH-syoh |
| Syllables | 3 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1914 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2000 (441) | 2006 (313) |
| In 2025 | 328 | 0 |
| Trend | Steady | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Alvaro | Ignacio |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,897 | 1,530 |
| 2010s | 2,575 | 2,104 |
| 2000s | 3,910 | 2,922 |
| 1990s | 3,355 | 2,687 |
| 1980s | 2,422 | 2,204 |
| 1970s | 1,202 | 1,893 |
| 1960s | 658 | 1,331 |
| 1950s | 499 | 1,266 |
| 1940s | 270 | 1,153 |
| 1930s | 232 | 1,041 |
| 1920s | 259 | 1,200 |
| 1910s | 78 | 445 |
| 1900s | 0 | 105 |
| 1890s | 0 | 45 |
| 1880s | 0 | 21 |
Álvaro comes from a Germanic name meaning “all-guard” or “elf warrior.”
Spanish form of Ignatius, traditionally linked to Latin 'ignis' ('fire'). As with Ignatius the fire sense is a popular etymology; an Etruscan Egnatius origin is also proposed.
Alvaro is more popular than Ignacio today: about 328 US babies were given the name Alvaro in 2025, compared with 0 named Ignacio.
Alvaro means All-guard (Spanish origin), while Ignacio means Fiery (spanish origin).
In US records, Alvaro first appears in 1914 and Ignacio in 0, so Ignacio has the longer recorded history.