Baby Name: Luthando

According to Statistics South Africa, the most popular baby name in the country last year — for both baby boys and baby girls — was (again) Enzokuhle.

Here are South Africa’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:

Girl Names

1. Enzokuhle, 3,751 baby girls
2. Melokuhle, 3,076
3. Amahle, 2,856
4. Okuhle, 2,389
5. Lethabo, 2,364
6. Omphile, 2,205
7. Lesedi, 2,092
8. Rethabile, 2,050
9. Amogelang, 1,849
10. Onthatile, 1,810

Boy Names

1. Enzokuhle, 4,124 baby boys
2. Lethabo, 3,137
3. Melokuhle, 2,823
4. Lubanzi, 2,801
5. Junior, 2,181
6. Siyabonga, 2,039
7. Bokamoso, 1,988
8. Omphile, 1,905
9. Amogelang, 1,847
10. Thato, 1,808

In the girls’ top 10, Okuhle and Onthatile replaced Luthando and Thandolwethu.

In the boys’ top 10, Omphile and Thato replaced Bandile and Mpho.

And, looking at middle names, the top three choices per gender are exactly the same as the year before:

• Girls: Precious, Princess, Angel
• Boys: Junior, Blessing, Gift

Sources: P0305 – Recorded live births, 2018 – Stats SA, Most popular baby names in South Africa in 2018, Revealed: The most popular baby names in SA

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