Baby Name: Banele

For 2020, Statistics South Africa didn’t release one set of baby name rankings covering the entire country. Instead, it released nine sets of rankings, each representing one of the country’s nine provinces.

So let’s start with that. Here are the top 3 girl names and top 3 boy names of 2020 within each of South Africa’s nine provinces, listed from most to least populous:

• Gauteng (26.0% of the population)
  • Top girl names: Lesedi, 843; Melokuhle, 835; Lethabo, 809
  • Top boy names: Lethabo, 995; Bokamoso, 636; Omphile, 633

• KwaZulu-Natal (19.3%)
  • Top girl names: Lisakhanya, 1,607; Asemahle, 1,301; Melokuhle, 991
  • Top boy names: Lubanzi, 1,759; Melokuhle, 1,202; Ayabonga, 1,196

• Western Cape (11.8%)
  • Top girl names: Melokuhle, 410; Othalive, 262; Mia, 216
  • Top boy names: Liam, 338; Noah, 254; Lundanele, 240

• Eastern Cape (11.3%)
  • Top girl names: Enzokuhle, 669; Melokuhle, 667; Othalive, 641
  • Top boy names: Enzokuhle, 727; Othalive, 565; Melokuhle, 492

• Limpopo (9.8%)
  • Top girl names: Tshegofatso, 586; Amogelang, 572; Lethabo, 562
  • Top boy names: Ofentse, 622; Phenyo, 588; Katlego, 564

• Mpumalanga (7.8%)
  • Top girl names: Melokuhle, 816; Amahle, 597; Minenhle, 439
  • Top boy names: Blessing, 443; Banele, 424; Junior, 397

• North West (6.9%)
  • Top girl names: Warona, 451; Reatlegile, 351; Omolemo, 340
  • Top boy names: Lethabo, 510; Refentse, 336; Warona, 267

• Free State (4.9%)
  • Top girl names: Amohelang, 363; Omphile, 309; Rethabile, 299
  • Top boy names: Lethabo, 525; Amohelang, 400; Katleho, 355

• Northern Cape (2.2%)
  • Top girl names: Warona, 89; Remofilwe, 79; Omolemo, 74
  • Top boy names: Lethabo, 96; Leano, 63; Refentse, 63

Using only the data they gave us (nine top-ten lists), here’s what I came up with for the most popular baby names in the country for 2020:

Girl Names:

• Melokuhle
• Enzokuhle
• Lesedi
• Rethabile
• Lethabo

Boy Names:

• Melokuhle
• Lethabo
• Lubanzi
• Banele
• Junior

But we’re missing a lot of data here, so there’s no telling how close these are to the official national rankings.

In 2019, the top baby names in South Africa were Melokuhle and Enzokuhle.

Update, 3/6/22: Commenter Andrea very kindly pointed out that I totally missed (!) the national rankings in the statistical release I cited. I’m sorry about that, everyone. Here are the top 10 lists:

Girl Names

1. Melokuhle, 4,347 baby girls
2. Amahle, 2,523
3. Enzokuhle, 2,370
4. Lisakhanya, 2,327
5. Lethabo, 2,319
6. Omphile, 2,300
7. Lesedi, 2,236
8. Okuhle, 2,225
9. Lethokuhle, 2,222
10. Rethabile, 2,094

Boy Names

1. Melokuhle, 3,187 baby boys
2. Lethabo, 3,139
3. Lubanzi, 3,029
4. Enzokuhle, 2,871
5. Banele, 2,793
6. Junior, 2,323
7. Lethokuhle, 2,196
8. Ayabonga, 2,105
9. Siyabonga, 1,972
10. Omphile, 1,857

Sources: P0305 – Recorded live births, 2020, List of South African provinces by population – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of South Africa (public domain)