The last time I wrote about popular baby names in Malta was two years ago. It’s time for an update!
A total of 4,143 babies were born in Malta in 2009. (In 2006, the number was 3,885.) These were the most popular baby names last year:
Girl Names
- Maria/Mariah/Marie, 82 baby girls
- Elena/Ylenia/Ella, 79
- Christina/Kristina/Krista, 63
- Eliza/Elizabeth/Lisa, 52
- Amy/Aimee, 49
- Julia/Gulia, 45
- Maya/Maia, 39 [tie]
- Emma, 39 [tie]
- Martina, 33
- Rihanna/Rhiana, 32
- Jasmine/Yasmine 31
- Keira, 29
- Mikela/Michaela, 28
- Jade 27
- Hannah/Anna/Ann, 26
- Nicole, 25 [3-way tie]
- Mireille, 25 [3-way tie]
- Hailey/Hayley, 25 [3-way tie]
- Sarah/Sara, 24
- Emilia, 22 [tie]
- Lea, 22 [tie]
- Thea, 20
- Shania, 18 [4-way tie]
- Katrina/Kate, 18 [4-way tie]
- Amber, 18 [4-way tie]
- Kailey/Kayleigh, 18 [4-way tie]
- Faith, 17 [tie]
- Laura, 17 [tie]
Boy Names
- Luke/Luca, 92 baby boys
- Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 84
- Jake, 59
- Aiden, 53
- Jaden/Jayden, 51
- John/Giovanni/Jean, 48
- Kaiden/Kayden, 47
- Michael/Miguel/Mikele, 46
- Nicholas/Nick, 42
- Isaac/Izaak, 39
- Nathan, 38
- Liam/William, 36 [tie]
- Gabriel, 36 [tie]
- Benjamin/Ben, 35
- Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, 34 [tie]
- Zachary/Zak, 34 [tie]
- James, 33 [tie]
- Daniel, 33 [tie]
- Denzel/Danzil, 31
- Keiran, 29
- Andre/Andrew/Andrea, 26 [tie]
- Sven, 26 [tie]
- Julian, 25
- Kyle, 24 [tie]
- Joseph/Giuseppe/Beppe, 24 [tie]
You’ll notice that Malta still lumps variants together. (They even lump non-variants like Elena and Ella together.) I’m not a big fan of this method because when groupings change from year to year, comparisons become impossible.
Malta also seems to have some issues with spelling. Aidan and Kieran became Aiden and Keiran between 2006 and 2009, for instance. And I wonder if “Gulia” wasn’t supposed to be spelled “Giulia.” (Though I do like the fact that there’s a “Julia/Gulia” grouping. Very Wedding Singer-esque.)
But it’s interesting stuff nonetheless. I’m especially intrigued by all the -ayden names on the boys’ list. (Worldwide phenomenon, anyone?)
If you want to see more from Malta, the top baby names of 2008, 2007, 2004/2005, 2003 and 2002 are available for download.
Source: National Statistics Office – Malta
Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)
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