Fun Facts About the Name Vasco
- 522 babies named Vasco: U.S. records list 522 babies given the name Vasco from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Vasco Mean?
Vasco is a Portuguese and Spanish masculine name meaning "Basque" - a person from the Basque country. Its immediate source is the Latin ethnic term Vasco, the singular of Vascones, the ancient name for the Basque people. The Spanish noun and adjective vasco preserve the same sense; the name uses the ethnic term literally rather than as a later symbolic interpretation. The deeper origin of Vascones is uncertain: it is an ancient name, and no single pre-Roman or Basque root is securely established.
Vasco Name History & Origins
The name goes back to the medieval Iberian personal name Vasco, originally an ethnic byname. Its immediate source is Latin Vasco (genitive Vasconis), the singular of Vascones, the ancient name of the Basque people. The same ethnic term lies behind Vasconia, the Latin name from which Gascony derives. In Portuguese and Spanish, Vasco became established as a masculine given name.
Two well-known bearers from the age of exploration are the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama (c. 1460 - 1524), who reached India by sea in 1498, and the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475 - 1519), who crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific in 1513. Their lives show the name in use in Portugal and Spain by the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Vasco da Gama is also the central figure of Luís de Camões's Os Lusíadas (1572), an epic treatment of a historical voyage rather than the origin of the name.
How Popular is the Name Vasco?
Vasco has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1916. Its best rank was #1,412 in 1910.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #6,424 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2024 | #5,855 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2023 | #12,137 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2022 | #10,762 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2021 | #9,630 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2020 | #9,495 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2019 | #12,037 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #13,953 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #14,122 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #10,661 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2015 | #11,993 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #12,010 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #12,042 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2011 | #10,715 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #10,685 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2009 | #8,269 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #8,274 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #10,598 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #8,262 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #8,874 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2003 | #10,823 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #9,209 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #10,466 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1994 | #8,753 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #7,866 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #6,280 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #7,329 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1975 | #5,438 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1973 | #5,845 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1969 | #5,007 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #4,603 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1959 | #3,597 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1958 | #3,919 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1956 | #3,914 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1952 | #4,230 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1949 | #3,667 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1948 | #4,165 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1946 | #3,503 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1944 | #3,091 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1943 | #4,006 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1942 | #3,539 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1941 | #2,859 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1939 | #3,939 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1938 | #4,004 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1937 | #2,667 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1936 | #3,130 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1935 | #4,112 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1934 | #3,261 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1933 | #3,619 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1931 | #2,460 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1930 | #3,274 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1927 | #3,137 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1926 | #2,896 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1925 | #2,925 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1924 | #2,813 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1923 | #3,158 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1922 | #3,235 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1921 | #2,496 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1920 | #3,793 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1919 | #2,859 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1918 | #2,255 | 14 | 0.0014% |
| 1917 | #2,717 | 10 | 0.0011% |
| 1916 | #1,762 | 18 | 0.0020% |
| 1915 | #2,299 | 12 | 0.0014% |
| 1914 | #2,260 | 10 | 0.0015% |
| 1913 | #2,260 | 8 | 0.0016% |
| 1912 | #2,523 | 6 | 0.0014% |
| 1910 | #1,412 | 7 | 0.0036% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Vasco Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are fixed in your opinions, firm in your friendships and square in your dealings with others. You are an excellent worker. Since you are both possessive and emotional, you can be either very practical or very impractical and unpredictable. Your dual nature needs to become steadfast. You are the marrying kind. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You find the best contentment in life when you own your own home and provide well for your family and loved ones. You have a great sense of responsibility and duty. You are comforting, appreciative and affectionate. Your obligation in life is to hold justice and truth, and if you follow the Law, you can find the great happiness and satisfaction.
✦ Vasco's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Vasco's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.