The INE has announced the names that parents have chosen the most for their newborn babies in Spain in 2021. They have also detailed which are the most popular names in each of the autonomous communities of our country, and today we start with the names most chosen boy and girl in Andalusia.
Most popular boy names in Andalusia
The names for boys most chosen by parents for their offspring are, in order of popularity:
- Manuel: of Hebrew origin, it means “God is with us”.
- Hugo: of Germanic origin, it means “intelligent”, “lucid”, “insightful”.
- Martin: comes from the Latin form Martis, which means “Mars” or “consecrated to the god Mars”.
- Alejandro: of Greek origin, means “protector or winner of men”.
- Pablo: of Latin origin, means “small, humble”.
- Daniel: name of Hebrew origin that means “God is my judge”.
- Antonio – Derived from the variant Antonius (in Latin), meaning “one who stands against his adversaries” or “brave”.
- Álvaro : name of Germanic origin, derived from “alwar”, which means “he who is prevented” or “he who is the defender of all”.
- Mateo: means “gift of God”. It is also popular in the Catalan form, Mateu.
- Leo – The most popular boy’s name of the last five years. It derives from Latin and is a variant of Leon, it symbolizes the fierceness of this animal and also power and justice.
Andalusia of “Manueles” and “Antonios”
If we look at the most popular names at a national level, we find that in Andalusia the most popular boy’s name for newborns is Manuel, while in the global ranking it occupies sixth place.
Another very ingrained name is Antonio, the most frequent name for men in Spain, and it is also still chosen by parents for their babies. Perhaps because of the tradition of repeating the name of parents, grandparents or uncles.
The others, all are also in the top 10 names at the national level, except for Álvaro who remains in Andalusia but is ranked 11th at the national level.
Most popular girl names in Andalusia
The names for girls most chosen by parents for their offspring are, in order of popularity:
- Mary : of Hebrew origin “ maryam ”, its meaning is “the chosen one”, “the one loved by God”.
- Lucía : of Latin origin “lux”, its meaning is “She who carries the light” or “She who is born of light”, in reference to girls who are born at dawn.
- Martina : feminine form of Martín, of Latin origin and meaning “consecrated or related to the god Mars”.
- Carmen – A traditional name that continues to ring. Of Hebrew origin, it means “Garden of God”. It is the most common female name in Spain.
- Lola : if decades ago Dolores was one of the most popular names, today her hypocoristic Lola is. It refers to the pain of the virgin when her son was crucified
- Sofia : of Greek origin and its meaning is “wisdom” or “she who possesses wisdom”.
- Valeria : of Latin origin and its meaning is “healthy and courageous”.
- Julia : of Latin origin “Iulus”/”Iulia”, name with which the members of the Roman Julia family were identified. It means “consecrated to Jupiter”.
- Alma – The average age of the girls wearing it is 7.3 years, which indicates that it is one of the “newer” names on the list of the most popular. It is of Latin origin, it means “Kind”, “Gentile”, “All spirituality”. Pasión Vega or Alejandro Sanz chose this name for their daughters.
- Daniela : of Hebrew origin, whose meaning is “She who God is her judge” or “Justice of God”.
Andalusia of “Carmenes” and “Lolas”
As for girls, we see again that Andalusia is very traditional and Carmen, the most frequent name for women in Spain, is also one of the favorites for newborn girls.
On the other hand, Lola ranks fifth in Andalusia, while in the national ranking she ranks 20th, making it clear that she is one of the most powerful names in the south of our country.
