Gonsalo
A medieval Spanish masculine name derived from the Germanic name Gundesalus.
Name Census estimates that about 202 living Americans carry the first name Gonsalo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gonsalo today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gonsalo births was 1980 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gonsalo. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
202
~ 1 in 1,696,804 Americans
Peak year
1980
10 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2011 SSA rank
#12,949
Tracked since 1929
Popularity
Gonsalo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gonsalo from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 62 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gonsalo by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gonsalo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gonsalos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gonsalo
The name Gonsalo has its origins in the medieval Spanish and Portuguese languages, derived from the ancient Germanic name Gunthisalus. This name is a compound of two elements: "gund" meaning "battle" and "salus" meaning "safety" or "protection".
The first recorded use of the name dates back to the 8th century, when it appeared in various chronicles and records from the Iberian Peninsula. During this period, the name was primarily associated with members of the nobility and ruling classes in the Christian kingdoms of Spain and Portugal.
One of the earliest and most notable historical figures bearing this name was Gonsalo Fernández de Córdoba, a Spanish military leader born in 1453. Nicknamed "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain), he was renowned for his military prowess and victories during the Italian Wars of the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Another prominent individual was Gonsalo Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador born in 1502. He played a significant role in the conquest of Peru alongside his half-brother Francisco Pizarro and participated in the infamous expedition to the Amazon basin in search of the legendary city of El Dorado.
In the 16th century, Gonsalo Jiménez de Quesada, a Spanish explorer and conquistador born in 1495, led the Spanish conquest of the Muisca Confederation, which led to the establishment of the city of Bogotá in present-day Colombia.
The name also found its way into the realm of literature, with Gonsalo de Berceo, a renowned Spanish poet and cleric born around 1196. He is considered one of the most important poets of the medieval period in Spain, known for his religious works written in the Spanish vernacular.
In the 17th century, Gonsalo Fernández de Córdoba y Enríquez, a Spanish nobleman born in 1588, served as the Viceroy of Peru and Mexico, playing a significant role in the administration of the Spanish colonies in the Americas.
While the name Gonsalo has its roots in the medieval Iberian Peninsula, it has since spread and been adopted in various parts of the world, particularly in Latin American countries with Spanish and Portuguese cultural influences.
People
Gonsalo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gonsalo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gonsalo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gonsalo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 202 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gonsalo going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,696,804 US residents.
Is Gonsalo a common name?
We classify Gonsalo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gonsalo most popular?
The single biggest year for Gonsalo was 1980, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gonsalo is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gonsalo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gonsalo in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.