Given name & surname

Refugio

“one who provides shelter”

Refugio is used as a given name and a surname. One Spanish interpretation is “one who provides shelter.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Spanish interpretation is “one who provides shelter.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Spanish.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1885. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Refugio through the years

Babies since 1880
4,847
3,984 boys · 863 girls
Most popular year
1927
106 babies
2025
9
#8,769 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20
+8%
Steady
Boys Girls
0204060801900192019401960198020002025Highest share 1927Boys 5.3Girls 0.0
Refugio in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1885–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

Boys, girls and both

The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 100% boys.

Boys Girls
0%50%100%1900192019401960198020002020
Five-year rolling share of U.S. births. Blank stretches had too few births to read.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,769 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 70 in 1927. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 7,298 as a first name in 2020; 394 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Refugio’s family of names

Refugio has an affectionate form in Fucho. Refugio has a feminine form in Refugia. Refugio has a related form in Refuge.

Walk Refugio’s family in the name graph

RefugioResugioRefugeFuchoResugeRefugia

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 4

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Across languages 1

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

People named Refugio

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Refugio, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Spanish · Old-fashioned

Candelario

“refers to the feast of Candlemas”

17Very rareSteady

>99% boys

Spanish · Old-fashioned

Margarito

“resembling a pearl”

22RareRising

>99% boys

French · Old-fashioned

Raoul

“wolf counsel” · “wolt counsel”

0Not recently recordedEasing

>99% boys

Spanish · Old-fashioned

Cipriano

“a man from Cyprus”

18Very rareSteady

>99% boys

German · Old-fashioned

Napoleon

“a man from Naples” · “son of the mists”

23RareEasing

>99% boys

German · Old-fashioned

Richmond

“from the wealthy hill” · “a powerful protector”

21RareEasing

>99% boys

Latin · Old-fashioned

Delano

“from”

25RareSteady

>99% boys

Italian · Old-fashioned

Santo

“a holy man”

27RareRising fast

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Refugio’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Refugio

A sister for Refugio