The National Institute of Statistics has just published its annual report with the 100 most given names to babies throughout 2017. As for girl names there have been no significant changes with respect to recent years, and Lucia continues to lead the preferences of Spanish parents For your daughters
For the boys, the name preferred by families over the past year was Lucas, which has overturned Hugo, the favorite since 2013.
The top 10 baby names in Spain
In 2017, 391,930 babies were born in Spain, of which 201,901 (51.51%) were male and 190,029 (48.48%) female.
As to the top 10 names for babies over the past year, the parents chose the following for their children:
If we leave the top 10 and keep going down the list, Leo and Carla are the next names, occupying the 11th position nationwide, while the 100th position is occupied by the names of Mauro and Elisa.
Preferred by Autonomous Community
The podium of the three most national names in 2017 varies slightly depending on the Autonomous Community we consult, and there are even communities such as Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Navarra, the Basque Country, and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, where these names do not appear among the parents' favorites.
On the contrary, the name of Lucas was also the most put in 2017 in Madrid, Castilla la Mancha, Castilla y León, Aragón, Valencian Community and the Canary Islands.The second place on the podium at the national level is occupied by the name of Hugo, which was also the second most commonly named name in the autonomous communities of Castilla la Mancha, Aragón and Andalucía.
For its part, Martin, third most nationally named last year, It was the first choice of Asturian, Cantabrian and Galician parents, and the second name that was most given to babies in Castilla León and Navarra.
Lucía, Sofía and María, the three names most given to girls in 2017, are repeated in the same order in Castilla la Mancha, and Lucía, was the most placed in Castilla y León, Aragón, Cantabria and Extremadura.As for the name of Sofia, it is the first choice of the Madrid, Valencian, Asturian and Galician parents, and it appears in the top 3 of all the autonomous communities except for Andalusia, Navarra, the Basque Country, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Extremadura.
And finally, María, the third most popular name for girls at the national level last year, was preferred in Andalusia and Murcia, but there are several autonomous communities that do not contemplate it in her top 3, such as Madrid, Castilla and León, Aragón, Asturias or Galicia, among others.
We leave you the detail of the three most chosen names in 2017 according to each autonomous community:
The evolution of names since 2012
If we look back six years, it is curious to see that since 2012 the preferences of Spanish parents in terms of names for their children have not varied excessively.
Lucia and María have been the favorite names for girls in these last six years, occupying first and second place respectively until 2016, the year in which Maria descended to third position.
Paula and Martina have been the other two names of a girl who at this time have taken turns occupying the third position of the preferences of Spanish parents.
For its part, the name of Sofia, which as we have seen was the third most chosen nationally in 2017, has been climbing positions in recent years: from a discreet eighth place in 2012 and 2013, to a sixth place in 2014 and a quarter in 2015 and 2016.
As for the most chosen child names in recent years, Hugo has been in the lead four consecutive years, while Daniel has taken second place. The third was occupied by Alejandro (2012), Pablo (2013-2015) and Martín (2016).
And in regards to Lucas, the name most given to boys born last year, has been the big surprise because until 2015 it did not even appear in the top 10 of the names preferred by the parents of our country.
There is less and less "María del Carmen"
The most popular female names in Spain are, in this order, Maria del Carmen, María and Carmen, and the women who wear them have an average age of between 49 and 60 years.
As we have seen, it seems that years do not go by the classic name of Mary, and today she continues to be one of the parents' favorite to call her daughters. As for Carmen, it occupies the 14th position nationwide, and is one of the 10 names that sound the most among babies in Andalusia, Castilla la Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia.
Instead, the name composed of María del Carmen has not appeared in the statistics of the INE for a long time of the 100 most put names in Spain.
On the other hand, the classic names of Antonio, Jose and Manuel are the most repeated in Spain among men, and those who wear them have an average age of between 55 and 60 years.
Manuel is still in the top 10 of the names more positions for babies today, but Antonio and Jose occupy the 24th and 38th positions respectively, although Antonio's name continues to be one of the favorites in Andalusia and Extremadura.
Source National Statistics Institute
In Babies and More 21 classic girl names that ring again, 21 classic boy names that ring again
