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Top baby names: Spanish parents depart from tradition

Spaniards are getting more and more creative with their baby names, opting more for Games of Thrones than Biblical, according to a new report.

Top baby names: Spanish parents depart from tradition
A 'baby-jumping' festival near Burgos, Spain. Photo: Cesar Manso/AFP.

Daniel and Lucía have in recent years become the most popular baby names for boys and girls in Spain, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Thursday.

The report showed the top baby names in Spain for each decade, dating back to before the 1930s.

For most of the past 80 years, Maria for girls and Jose or Antonio for boys had been the top go-to names for babies in Spain.

But this decade has seen a shift in the way Spanish parents name their newborns, opting for a break in tradition. Between 2010 and 2014, Daniel and Lucia have been the top baby names chosen instead.

We took a look at some of the top names – and most original ones – that have become in vogue this decade.

1. Daniel & Lucía

Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP.

This is the first time that Daniel has risen to the top for boys names.

And Lucia becoming a top pick is the first time since the 1980s when the standard of Maria or Maria Carmen has been beat out for number one – and only the second time since before the 1930s where Maria hasn’t been above the rest.

2. Hugo & Maria

Photo: Pedro Armestre/AFP.

Though it lost its top spot, Maria still came in at number two for girls so far this decade, meaning Spaniards haven’t completely lost their love for the name, which is the Spanish version of Mary.

But Hugo has made a huge jump in its popularity, now at second place when in the 2000s it was only at twelfth place. Before that, the Germanic name was never even in the top 50.

3. Paula & Alejandro

Photo: Desiree Martin/AFP.

While Alejandro might seem like a natural Spanish name to hold a top spot, it actually didn’t make it into the top ten until the 1990s, holding onto first place through 2009. Has Lady Gaga’s song helped it maintain its popularity?

Paula also sounds quite traditional, but was never in the top 50 even until the 1980s when it took 48th place and then shot up into the top ten the following decade, where it has remained since.

And the more unusual names…

Some of the less traditional names to make top spots were Iker at number 14, which is a Basque name, and Izan at number 23 – neither of these names had made it into the top 50 before the turn of the 21st century.

For female names, the Latin-origin Valeria at number 12 was never a common pick before this decade.

And Noa – more commonly a boy’s name – first appeared as the 49th most popular name in the 2000s, but has jumped all the way to 16th place in recent years.

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising names – though less common – include those inspired by football. There are about 100 little boys born since 2010 with the first name of Neymar, like the Brazilian-born Barcelona football star.

Another 22 boys born since 2000 are named Zidane after the Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane.

Pop culture has also apparently had an impact on the Spanish baby-naming process as more than 120 baby girls born since 2010 are named Arya and 22 were named Daenerys – obvious tributes to the beloved Game of Thrones series.

Sociologist Roberto Barbeito told news daily 20 Minutos that Biblical names, often imposed during baptism by the Church, have lost some popularity because Catholicism plays less of a role now in Spaniard’s lives.

“Names are not free choices, their selection is deeply influenced by the social context,” Barbeito said.

“Names are used as references for the way of life, it’s like saying to your progeny that you want them to share the same qualities that distinguish the person from whom you took the name.”

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EUROPEAN UNION

COMPARE: Where in Europe now has the lowest birth rate?

The number of births in Europe have dropped dramatically in recent years, new statistics reveal. But which countries have seen the biggest drop in the birthrate?

COMPARE: Where in Europe now has the lowest birth rate?

Births in Europe have reached their lowest point since the 1960s in 2022, as only 3.88 million babies were born compared to more double some sixty years ago, according to the EU statistical office Eurostat.

In the period 1961–2022, all countries (EU member states as well as EFTA countries Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) saw steady declining birth rates.

The highest level recorded was 6.8 million in 1964. By 2002, births had declined to 4.36 million, followed by a modest increase to 4.68 million in 2008, and a general downward trend after that year (except for 2021, during the pandemic).

Highest birth rates in France

On average, the total birth rate, the average number of children born per the lifetime of each woman, was 1.46 live births in 2022.

Among the European countries covered (see image below), France had the highest, at 1.79, even though the national statistics bureau reported in January that births in France fell in 2023 to their lowest annual number since World War II, with an average birth rate of 1.68 children for each woman.

Romania (1.71) and Bulgaria (1.65) followed. The lowest fertility rates in 2022 were recorded in Malta (1.08), Spain (1.16) and Italy (1.24).

Other countries were somewhat in between, with Sweden reporting a fertility rate of 1.53, Austria 1.55, Germany 1.46, Switzerland 1.39. In comparison, Italy’s fertility rate in 1960 was 2.4, Denmark’s 2.57, and Austria’s 2.69 (this value is not available for all countries).

The UK’s birth rate decreased to 1.49 children per woman in 2022 down from 1.55 in 2021.

Image: Eurostat.

A fertility rate of around 2.1 live births per woman is considered to keep the population size constant in developed countries without migration.

In recent years, the EU population has decreased after decades of growth, mostly due to the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The current European Commission launched in 2021 a debate on Europe’s ageing society, suggesting steps for higher labour market participation, including more equality between women and men and longer working lives.

In countries such as Italy, there have been calls to increase financial support for those with young children, or measures addressing chronic problems which discourage or prevent Italians from starting a family at all.

But in France, President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to revive sluggish birth rate sparked an outcry, with feminists and left-wing politicians accusing him of seeking to control women’s bodies.

Having children later in life

Across Europe, it appears that many women are opting to have their first child at a later age than in the past, meaning that the possibility of other children is reduced.

The average age of women having their first child was in the EU in 2022 was 29.7 years (compared to 28.8 in 2013), ranging from 26.6 in Bulgaria and 27 in Romania, to 31.7 in Italy and 31.6 in Spain.

Eurostat notes that while the fertility rates for women below 30 years have declined since 2001, those for women aged 30 and above have risen. In 2001, the fertility rate for women aged 25-29 years was the highest among all age groups. In 2022, it was for 30–34-year-olds. The fertility rate for women aged 35 years and over is also increasing.

Foreign-born mothers

Eurostat also records that some 22 per cent of children in 2022 were born from foreign-born mothers, with most EU countries becoming increasingly diverse compared to 2013.

The highest proportion was 66 per cent in Luxembourg followed by 41 per cent in Cyprus. In Austria, Belgium and Malta, around one-third of children were born to foreign-born mothers. On the other hand, The lowest proportion was 2 per cent in Slovakia and Bulgaria.

This article was published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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