Spanish Names

This variation on Moses got a boost from Moises Alou, a Dominican-American baseball player who spent 17 seasons in the National League.

Tightly bound to flamboyant newsman Geraldo Rivera--who was born Gerald..

The J spelling -- both are pronounced as if they started with H -- is more common, but the X has more flair.

Parents seeking a way to differentiate their Isabella from all the others could consider this zippier spelling. It does have the jazzy nickname Izzy.

A name that's more familiar in its male form, Placido, but this can be a similar-feeling alternative to Serena.

A worldly and attractive choice for a child of any background. Two early New World explorers were Hernandos — de Soto and Cortés.

After your first little Primo, you could always call the next Segundo -- though that's like naming them number one and number two.

There are several fine Ben-beginning boy's names, such as BENJAMIN and BENEDICT, but girls names like this and BENJAMINA don't fare as well.

Claudina — a traditional Spanish diminutive of Claudia — was a Top 500 name in Spain for the first half of the 20th century. It never caught on as a given name in the US. At its peak, Claudina was given to 17 American baby girls in 1969.