Salvador
Meaning
“'savior', from Latin salvator”
Famously borne by Salvador Dali, whose melting clocks became one of Surrealism's most recognizable images.
The story
Salvador is Spanish for savior, from the Latin salvator, and it began as a devotional name, the same impulse that put it on maps across two continents, from San Salvador to Brazil's first colonial capital, Salvador da Bahia. It is one of the Spanish-speaking world's durable classics, worn by presidents and painters alike, and the painter matters most to its global image: Salvador Dalí made the name shorthand for flamboyant genius, mustache included. In the US it has been a steady presence in Mexican-American and Central American families for a full century, and the records show it as current in recent years as it was in the 1980s. It also comes with two built-in casual registers: Sal, the American shortening it shares with Salvatore, and Chava, the Mexican pet form. One name, three ways to introduce yourself.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Salvador peaked in the 1980s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Popularity in Brazil
25,173 people · the #914 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 8,065 · median age 62
Among people named Salvador living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1950s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 85 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Salvador
Most people given the name Salvador in the United States were born between 1970 and 2009. The Salvador you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Salvador deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Salvador 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 Salvador fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Salvador travels
Italian Brazilian · savior (Portuguese form of the Italian Salvatore)
Mexican American · a classic devotional name
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Salvador · Italian Brazilian baby names · Filipino American baby names · Mexican American baby names
Does Salvador fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Salvador to your family’s tree →