How to say it
ja · VIER
/hɑːˈvjɛr/
Masculine
Javier
New house
What it means
The Spanish form of Xavier, from the Basque place name Etxeberria, 'the new house,' birthplace of St. Francis Xavier.
Javier is the Spanish version of Xavier, traced to the Basque Etxeberria, etxe 'house' plus berri 'new,' the castle in Navarre where St. Francis Xavier was born in 1506. The Jesuit missionary's fame turned a place name into one of the most-used names across Spain and Latin America. In Spanish the J is an H sound, so it lands as hah-VYER. Javi is the universal short.
Popularity over time
peaked at #149 in 1998, currently #274 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pronunciation
Spanish pronounces the J as an H: hah-VYER, not juh-VEER.
- Nickname
Javi is the standard short across the Spanish-speaking world.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Javier Bardem Spanish Academy Award-winning actor
- St. Francis Xavier 16th-century Jesuit missionary, the name's source
Spelling variants
- Xavier
- Xabier
- Javiero
Names with the same feeling
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