Castro

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Кастро in RU Russia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 12 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Castro is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English surname1.7M records spelled Castro40 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Peru, Philippines, Ecuador

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Castró, Cäströ, Caströ, Cástro, Čäströ

• a separate surname168K records spelled Castro3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, Spain, United Kingdom

  Also written Cástro

• English surname28K records spelled Castro55 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Laos, Thailand

  Languages: English, Lao, Thai

  Also written Castor, Cäströ, คาสโตร์, คาสโตร, C'Astro

• Indonesian surname23K records spelled Castro3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, Indonesia, United States, Peru

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Častro

89 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Castro is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Italian, numerous places so called, from LL castellio, gen. castellibnis, fortified town or village (a deriv. of castellum; see dic): topographic name for someone living by a castle or walled town, from It., Sp., Port, castro (L castrum legion¬ ary camp), or habitation name from a place named with this element. Castle) . Vars.: It.: Castri, Lo Cast(r)o, Licastri, De Castri(s).

  as a name·A dictionary of surnames

• In Portuguese, fort (of Roman or prehistoric origin)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, fort, fortified settlement

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, do lat. castrum, fortificação/cidadela; oriundo de localidades chamadas Castro

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• In English, Fidel, president, Cuba

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

EC INEC — Visualizador de Nombres y Apellidos, per-token query API (1900–2024) — 125 years between 1900–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ángel Castro y Arguízb. 1875ESfather of Fidel Castro
• Fidel Castrob. 1926CUCuban politician, author and revolutionary (1926–2016)
• Raúl Castrob. 1931CUformer First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
• Juanita Castrob. 1933CUsister of Fidel Castro, stateswoman (1933-2023)
• Verónica Castrob. 1952MXMexican actress and singer
• Alfredo Castrob. 1955CLChilean actor and director
• Xiomara Castrob. 1959HNHonduran politician and businesswoman (born 1959)
• Itziar Castrob. 1977ESSpanish actress
• Gonzalo Castro Randonb. 1987DEGerman footballer
• Jesús Ferreirab. 2000COnot in their usual nameAmerican soccer player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 260 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Castro?

We estimate roughly 918 thousand people bear Castro (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Castro have the most bearers?

Castro is most frequently recorded in Mexico, where it is most often spelled castro.

Where is Castro most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Castro is densest in Costa Rica — about 1 in 65 people — even though Mexico holds more of our records for it.

How common is Castro compared with other names?

In Mexico, Castro is the 36th most common surname of 198,716 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Castro mean?

Recorded meaning: Person who lives by or in a castle or walled town, or person from Castro; from castro 'castle, walled town'.