The INE (National Institute of Statistics) has released its annual report with the names most chosen by parents for their newborns in Spain in 2021 at the national level, as well as the most popular in each autonomous community.
One more year, Lucía is once again the most popular name for girls, while Martín takes the podium from Hugo as the most popular boy’s name among newborns.
The most frequent boy and girl names in Spain in 2021
As for the 10 most popular names for babies in 2021, parents chose the following for their boys and girls:
Top 10 boy names (and their meaning)
- Martin: comes from the Latin form Martis, which means “Mars” or “consecrated to the god Mars”.
- Hugo: of Germanic origin, it means “intelligent”, “lucid”, “insightful”.
- Mateo: means “gift of God”. It is also popular in the Catalan form, Mateu: Catalan form of Mateo.
- 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.
- Lucas: of uncertain origin, it seems to come from the Hebrew and would mean “hurricane”, or from Latin, and would be translated as “light”.
- Manuel: of Hebrew origin, it means “God is with us”.
- Daniel: name of Hebrew origin that means “God is my judge”. In most English countries, this name is interpreted as Dannis, but the etymology is the same.
- Alejandro: means “protector or winner of men”.
- Pablo: of Latin origin, means “small, humble”.
- Enzo – is an Italian given name, meaning “the lord of his home or his country”.
- They were left out of the top 10 (with respect to the year 2020): Álvaro, Adrián and Mario.
- The successes of the year : On the other hand, Martín, who is in first place, climbed strongly, when the previous year he was in third place. Leo, who was clearly on the rise, climbs one more position compared to 2020. And Enzo climbs two positions entering the Top 10.
Top 10 girl names (and their meaning)
- 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”.
- Sofia : of Greek origin and its meaning is “wisdom” or “the one who possesses wisdom”.
- Mary : of Hebrew origin “maryam”, its meaning is “the chosen one”, “the one loved by God”.
- 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”.
- Paula : Latin origin “Paulus” and variant of Paola. It means “The minor”, “The small one” or “That one of small size”.
- Emma : of Germanic origin, it means “Great”, “Strong”, “Immense”, “Powerful”.
- Daniela : of Hebrew origin, whose meaning is “She who God is her judge” or “Justice of God”.
- Carla : of Germanic origin, its meaning is “powerful”, “the one who is strong”.
Among girls, there have been fewer changes from the previous year. The names that have climbed the most in the Top 10 have been Martina, who climbed one position, and Valeria, who climbed two.
The most popular boy and girl names in 2021
If we leave the top 10 and keep going down, this is the list of the 100 favorite names of parents for babies born in Spain in 2021 .
Below you will find the favorite names by Autonomous Communities.
Most popular names in 2021 by autonomous communities
The podium of the most chosen names at the national level in 2021 varies slightly depending on the Autonomous Community that we consult. The favorite girl and boy names are, in order :
Andalusia
- Girl names: María, Lucía, Martina, Carmen, Lola, Sofía, Valeria, Julia, Alma and Daniela.
- Boy’s names: Manuel, Hugo, Martín, Alejandro, Pablo, Daniel, Antonio, Álvaro, Mateo and Leo.
Aragon
- Girl names: Lucía, Martina, Valeria, Vega, Sofía, Julia, Emma, Alba, Lara and María.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Mateo, Hugo, Lucas, Leo, Diego, Daniel, Alejandro, Pablo and Mario.
asturias
- Girl names: Lucía, Valeria, Martina, Lara, Sofía, Julia, Mía, Daniela, Carla and Carmen.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Mateo, Lucas, Hugo, Marco, Daniel, Leo, Enzo, Manuel and Diego.
Balearic
- Girl names: Martina, Julia, Emma, María, Lucía, Laia, Mía, Sofía, Chloe and Carla.
- Boy’s names: Marc, Pau, Hugo, Lucas, Martí, Leo, Joan, Martín, Oliver and Adrián.
Canary Islands
- Girl names: Martina, Lucía, Sofía, Valeria, Chloe, Alma, Valentina, Emma, Daniela and Mía.
- Boy names: Mateo, Hugo, Thiago, Leo, Lucas, Liam, Enzo, Martín, Dylan and Diego.
cantabria
- Girl names: Lucía, Sofía, Martina, Vega, Valeria, Alba, Paula, Emma, Julia and Mía.
- Boy’s names: Mateo, Martín, Hugo, Leo, Lucas, Marco, Pablo, Mario, Daniel and Alejandro.
Castile and Leon
- Girl names: Lucía, Sofía, Valeria, Martina, Daniela, Vega, Julia, Jimena, Olivia and Paula.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Mateo, Hugo, Lucas, Daniel, Pablo, Adrián, Alejandro, Leo and Mario.
Castilla la Mancha
- Girl names: Lucía, Valeria, Martina, Sofía, María, Paula, Carla, Vega, Alma and Carmen.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Hugo, Mateo, Lucas, Daniel, Manuel, Alejandro, Leo, Mario and Adrián.
Catalonia
- Girl names: Julia, Martina, Mía, Emma, Lucía, Sofía, Ona, María, Paula and Aina.
- Boy names: Marc, Jan, Nil, Pol, Leo, Alex, Marti, Pau, Biel and Lucas.
Valencian Community
- Girl names: Lucía, Sofía, Martina, María, Valeria, Emma, Julia, Aitana, Vega and Alma.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Mateo, Marc, Hugo, Lucas, Leo, Enzo, Alejandro, Daniel and Pablo.
Estremadura
- Girl names: Lucía, Martina, María, Valeria, Paula, Carla, Carmen, Sofía, Alma and Jimena.
- Boy’s names: Manuel, Martín, Álvaro, Hugo, Daniel, Alejandro, Carlos, Mario, Lucas and Leo.
Galicia
- Girl names: Sofía, Noa, Martina, Lara, Valeria, Daniela, Olivia, Sara, Mía and Lucía.
- Boy names: Mateo, Martín, Hugo, Leo, Lucas, Enzo, Manuel, Roi, Gael and Alex.
Madrid
- Girl names: Lucía, Sofía, Martina, Olivia, Paula, Valeria, Emma, María, Julia and Alba.
- Boy names: Mateo, Martín, Lucas, Alejandro, Daniel, Hugo, Leo, Adrián, Diego and Pablo.
Murcia
- Girl names: Lucia, Mary, Sophia, Valerie, Martina, Vega, Sarah, Daniela, Carmen and Paula.
- Children’s names: Hugh, Paul, Alexander, Martin, Leo, Alvaro, Antonio, Mario, Daniel and Manuel.
Navarre
- Girl names: Nahia, Ane, Irati, Lucía, Martina, June, Sofía, Julia, Lara and Laia.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Mateo, Julen, Hugo, Leo, Oier, Lucas, Enzo, Daniel and Javier.
Basque Country
- Girl’s names: Ane, Laia, June, Nahia, Maddi, Malen, Nora, Irati, Izaro and Sara.
- Child names: Markel, Martin, Julen, Oihan, Jon, Aiur, Aimar, Ibai, Luka and Danel.
The Rioja
- Girl names: Lucía, Sofía, Martina, Julia, Carmen, María, Valeria, Alba, Sara and Carla.
- Boy’s names: Martín, Mateo, Daniel, Hugo, Pablo, Alejandro, Marco, Enzo, Lucas and Mario.
Ceuta
- Girl names: Amira, Jimena, Zaira, Martina, Noor, Suyud, Afnan, Daniela, Dikra and Julia.
- Boy names: Mohamed, Amir, Akram, Maher, Omar, Adam, Riad, Yusef, Ayman and Imran.
Melilla
- Nombres de niña: Amira, Nour, Noha, Malak, Maryam, Tasmin, Aysel, Lucía, Sara y Sirin.
- Nombres de niño: Amir, Adam, Mohamed, Imran, Maher, Ibrahim, Nael, Amin, Aylan y Haron.
