Baltazar
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Meaning
variant of Balthazar, the traditional name of one of the three Magi; ultimately from Akkadian "Bel protect the king"
The story
Baltazar is Epiphany's name. The Gospel left the Magi anonymous; tradition later gave the three kings their names, and Balthazar became the standard one, a chain that runs back through the Babylonian Belshazzar to Akkadian, "Bel protect the king." The z-spelling is the one Portuguese kept, used alongside the older Spanish Baltasar, and in Mexico the name survives as a common surname too. Brazil's census counted 5,110 men named Baltazar, 1,294 of them born in the 1950s. The United States line climbs late for so old a name: 34 boys in the 1910s, double and triple digits through midcentury, then 472 in the 1990s, 497 in the 2000s, 323 in the 2010s, 212 so far this decade. Every January 6, across the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world, the kings arrive again; some of each year's babies are named for the king the usual telling credits with the myrrh.
How popular is Baltazar around the world?
In the United States, Baltazar is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. In Chile, 428 boys were registered as Baltazar in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
Baltazar is on the official records of the United States, Chile, Argentina, Montevideo, Mexico City, Brazil, Poland and Spain.
United States
on record
In the United States, Baltazar is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Baltazar peaked in the 2000s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Chile
1 in 420
In Chile, 428 boys were registered as Baltazar in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Argentina
1 in 1,300
In Argentina, 511 newborns were given the name Baltazar in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
1 in 12,0002011
In Montevideo, 2 boys named Baltazar were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Mexico City City
1 in 39,000
In Mexico City, there were 3 registrations of Baltazar in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Brazil
1 in 40,000
At the 2022 census, 5,110 people in Brazil were named Baltazar, ranked 2,701st, with a median age of 59.
Among people named Baltazar living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1950s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Poland
1 in 82,000
In Poland, 3 boys named Baltazar were born in 2025, the 581st most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Spain
1 in 400,000
In Spain, 113 residents are named Baltazar, ranked 7,481st among men, with a mean age of 32.8 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
England and Wales
last on record 2016
Baltazar is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 1995
Baltazar is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Baltazar deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Baltazar truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Baltazar fits with your family’s names and surname.
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