In 1930 , the city of Santo Domingo was almost completely destroyed by a hurricane called San ZenÃ n. Rafael Trujillo rebuilt the city and named it Ciudad Trujillo after himself . After his assassination in 1961 , Ciudad Trujillo became again Santo Domingo . Santo Domingo was called `` Ciudad Trujillo '' , from 1930 to 1961 , after the Dominican Republic 's dictator , Rafael Trujillo , named the capital after himself .