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These are Spain’s most popular baby names

The most recent data revealing Spain's most popular names suggest a shift away from biblical traditions.

Published: 11 June 2019 09:09 CEST
These are Spain's most popular baby names
Photo: Despositphotos

According to 2017 statistics from Spain’s national statistics office (INE), Lucas and Lucía are the most popular baby names in the country. With traditional names, such as María and Daniel becoming less common, names with an international feel are opted for more regularly. For example, Lucía, Sofia, Lucas and Martin are all popular Spanish names that are pronounced the same in English.

Current statistics show continuity in the shift away from biblical names such as María Jesús, María Concepción and Jesús that were popular for babies in the 1950s and 1960s. It was only in 2004 that María was beaten to the top spot for female baby names in Spain.

Lucas has been the top name given to baby boys since it overtook Hugo in 2013, which is now is second place, followed by Martin, Daniel, Pablo, Alejandro, Mateo, Adrian, Alvaro, Manuel and Leo. Lucía has been the most popular name for girls since 2002, and is followed by Sofia, María, Martina, Paula, Julia, Daniela, Valeria, Alba and Emma.


Former Queen Sofia speaking with her namesake, Princess Sofia, pictured with Princess Leonor. Photo: AFP

Regional trends

In the southernmost regions, María still heads the leaderboard in popularity for girls. For boys, Manuel is the frontrunner in Andalusia, and Pablo sits at the top in Murcia. In the more central regions, of Valencia, Castilla – La Mancha, Madrid and Extremadura, Lucas and Lucía remain popular choices along with Daniel and Sofia.

New parents are opting for Lucas and Lucía as well as Martin and Sofia in the northern regions of Aragon, Asturias, La Rioja, Galacia, Cantabria and Castilla y Léon. Although Julien for a boy and Irati for a girl are the most popular choices in Comunidad Foral de Navarra, which boarders the Basque Country.

Marc and Julia are the most popular names in Catalonia and the top Basque baby names are currently Markel and June. In the Spanish communities of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco, Mohamed and Amira are the most common choices.

In the Balearic islands, Marc and Emma top the list, while in Canarias, Lucas and Martina and the most popular choices.

The most popular surnames in Spain

Currently, García remains the most common surname in Spain, followed by Rodríguez which has been in joint second place with González since 2018. Next on the list are Fernández, López, Martínez, Sánchez, Pérez, Gómez and Martín.
 
The most common names throughout the whole population

Antonio and María Carmen are the most common names in Spain, according to 2018 INE data, more traditional choices in comparison to today's most popular baby names. The move away from religious and long-established names has been a trend since the 1970s and 1980s. 

678,425 men in Spain are names Antonio, and their average age is 55.9 and 656,276 women are named María Carmen, with their average age being 57 years old, whereas runners up in both categories are younger.

Runners up for male names are José, Manuel, Francisco, David, Juan, José Antonio, Javier, Daniel and José Luis. The remainder of the top 10 female names are María, Carmen, Josefa, Ana María, Isabel, María Pilar, María Dolores, Laura and María Teresa.

By Alice Huseyinoglu

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NAMES

Adolf, Alexa, Greta: These are the names Germans don’t want to give their kids

History, technology and current political trends all seem to have an influence when German parents decide on names for their children, a new survey shows.

Published: 25 March 2021 10:28 CET
Adolf, Alexa, Greta: These are the names Germans don’t want to give their kids
File photo: dpa | Fabian Strauch

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Adolf is the least popular name for Germans to give their children. 

While Adolphus was a relatively popular name in the first part of the 20th century, its association primarily with Adolf Hitler has since made it taboo.

A survey brought out by YouGov on Thursday shows that 89 percent of Germans say it is “unlikely” they would call their child Adolf, although 8 percent still say it is “likely” they would do so.

READ ALSO: What it’s like to share a name with the world’s most notorious dictator

Alexa, the name of Amazon’s virtual assistant, is also rather unpopular, with 79 percent of respondents saying they would probably not pick this as a name for their child.

Kevin, a name strongly associated with the fashion of giving children American names during the communist era in East German, is also now unpopular. Some 80 percent say they wouldn’t give their child this name.

According to a survey done in 2011, men called Kevin also have less luck in finding love online, presumably because of the negative associations of the once popular name.

For girls, Greta seems to be unpopular, with three quarters of respondents saying they wouldn’t use it as a name for their child. YouGov says that “perhaps people have the polarizing climate activist Greta Thunberg in the backs of their minds.”

Asked what they believed has the most impact on how names are chosen, the respondents said that family and ethnic background have an overwhelmingly positive influence.

Politics and current trends on the other hand were seen to have a generally negative impact on the favourability of names.

The survey also found out that Germans are generally very happy with their given names, with 84 percent voicing satisfaction and just 13 percent expressing dissatisfaction.

The results come from a representative study of 2,058 people in Germany between February 12th and February 15th.

SEE ALSO: These are Germany’s most popular baby names for 2020

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