Manuel
Manuel is a boys' name of Portuguese origin meaning “God is with us.” It ranked #371 in the United States in 2025. One of the defining names of Portuguese culture, Manuel was borne by two Portuguese kings, including Manuel I, under…
how do you pronounce Manuel?
mah-noo-EL
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Manuel mean?
The name Manuel means “God is with us.” It comes from the Portuguese language tradition.
One of the defining names of Portuguese culture, Manuel was borne by two Portuguese kings, including Manuel I, under whose reign Portugal reached its zenith as a maritime empire. The name is ubiquitous in the Portuguese-speaking world and carries deep spiritual and national significance.
where does the name Manuel come from?
Wiktionary and Wikipedia agree Manuel comes from the Hebrew Immanuel, meaning God with us, reaching the same conclusion from the Hebrew elements rendered as imánu (with us) and él (God).
the history of Manuel
Per Wikipedia, the name was reportedly carried from the Byzantine Empire to Western Europe, chiefly Germany, Portugal and Spain, where it has been used since at least the 13th century, and remains popular across Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Romanian, Greek, Polish and Dutch. The retrieved sources don't mention the Portuguese kings often credited with popularizing it, so that detail isn't confirmed here.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2025 | #371 |
| 2024 | #351 |
| 2023 | #333 |
| 2022 | #316 |
| 2021 | #321 |
| 2020 | #323 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Manuel?
Nicknames
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Manuel?
- King Manuel I of Portugal (ruler during the Age of Discovery)
- Manuel de Oliveira (Portuguese film director, worked until age 106)
what names are similar to Manuel?
what names go well with Manuel?
Sibling names that share Manuel's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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