Pedro

Stone names endure. Pedro is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Peter, from the Greek petros, rock — the same root on which, depending on your theology, an entire church was built. It has crowned five kings of Portugal and a Brazilian emperor, appeared in Cervantes novellas, and belonged to one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. Pedro Almodóvar remade Spanish cinema; Pedro Martínez made hitters look foolish at Fenway for years.

The name has never dipped below a certain cultural floor in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, where it functions much as John does in English — ubiquitous, respected, never requiring justification. In the United States it currently sits at rank 401, a comfortable position that reflects its standing as an established choice in Latino communities and an increasingly recognized option beyond them. Its trajectory has been remarkably stable rather than subject to the rises and falls that trend-driven names experience.

Two syllables, the first open and stressed, the second closing on a soft vowel — Pe-dro — the whole name grounded and unhurried, resistant to being rushed. In a sibling set with Sergio, Hugo, Mario, or Winston, it holds a quiet authority that belongs to names with centuries of use behind them. The boy who grows up as Pedro tends to be the one who already knows what he believes, who doesn't need to announce his opinions because his actions have already made them plain.