How popular is the baby name Rethabile in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Rethabile.
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South Africa — the southernmost country in Africa — shares a border with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Eswatini. Its eleven official languages include Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, and English.
In 2021, South Africa welcomed 1,087,526 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Melokuhle and Lethabo.
Here are South Africa’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:
Girl Names
Melokuhle, 3,784 baby girls
Omphile, 2,500
Iminathi, 2,387
Lisakhanya, 2,369
Lethabo, 2,336
Amahle, 2,103
Lesedi, 2,098
Rethabile, 2,035
Lethokuhle, 2,032
Asemahle, 1,844
Boy Names
Lethabo, 3,213 baby boys
Lubanzi, 2,810
Melokuhle, 2,619
Junior, 2,027
Lethokuhle, 1,993
Siphosethu, 1,953
Omphile, 1,898
Lwandle, 1,862
Banele, 1,816
Ofentse, 1,765
As usual, the two top-10 lists have several names in common: Melokuhle (the #1 girl name), Lethabo (the #1 boy name), Omphile, and Lethokuhle.
In 2020, the top baby name in South Africa for both genders was Melokuhle.
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:
According to Statistics South Africa, the most popular baby names in the country in 2019 were Melokuhle and Enzokuhle.
Here are South Africa’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:
Girl Names
Melokuhle, 3,418 baby girls
Enzokuhle, 3,273
Amahle, 2,534
Lethabo, 2,420
Omphile, 2,350
Okuhle, 2,313
Lesedi, 2,154
Lethokuhle, 2,079
Lisakhanya, 2,077
Rethabile, 1,951
Boy Names
Enzokuhle, 3,851 baby boys
Lethabo, 3,138
Lubanzi, 3,110
Melokuhle, 2,907
Junior, 2,471
Lethokuhle, 2,169
Siyabonga, 1,979
Omphile, 1,292
Thato, 1,887
Bokamoso, 1,883
In general, the popular baby forenames for males and females reflect positive hopes for the child, express beliefs and are inspired by positive connotations of both love and acceptance.
In 2018, the top name for both girls and boys was Enzokuhle.
In the girls’ top 10, Lethokuhle and Lisakhanya replaced Amogelang and Onthatile.
In the boys’ top 10, Lethokuhle replaced Amogelang.
Finally, the top five middle names per gender in 2019 were…
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