Last year, the most popular baby names in the Brazilian city of Toledo (located in the southern state of Paraná) were Alice and Miguel.
According to local newspaper Gazeta de Toledo — which published a single, provisional set of rankings for Toledo in late December — these were the city’s top 50 baby names overall in 2022:
- Miguel, 32 babies
- Alice, 29 – pronounced ah-lee-see in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Helena, 25
- Maria Alice, 21
- Cecilia, 21
- Arthur, 18
- Laura, 17
- Davi, 15 – a form of David.
- Theo, 15
- Samuel, 15
- Maria Julia, 15
- Bernardo, 13
- Gael, 12
- Aurora, 12
- Lara, 12
- Heitor, 11
- Ravi, 10 – a form of Rafael.
- Julia, 10
- Maria Clara, 9
- Arthur Miguel, 9
- Joaquim, 9
- Gabriel, 9
- Vicente, 9
- Lorenzo, 9
- Isabelly, 8
- Sofia, 8
- Livia, 8
- Augusto, 8
- Heloisa, 8
- Eloa, 8
- Nicolas, 8
- Noah, 8
- Rafael, 8
- Benicio, 7
- Maria Eduarda, 7
- Emanuel, 7
- Valentina, 7
- Lucas, 7
- Maria Cecilia, 6
- Isaac, 6
- Anthony, 6
- Catarina, 6
- Agatha, 6
- Murilo, 6 – (pronounced moo-ree-loh) based on the Spanish surname Murillo, which is derived from the Spanish word muro, meaning “wall.”
- Pedro, 6
- Guilherme, 6
- Rebeca, 6
- Eloah, 6
- Antonella, 6
- Felipe, 6
The newspaper mentioned that Maria Alice has been on the rise in Brazil since the mid-2020 birth of celebrity baby Maria Alice, firstborn daughter of Brazilian singer Zé Felipe and Brazilian influencer Virginia Fonseca. (The couple’s second daughter, Maria Flor, was born in late 2022 — making “Maria Flor” a combo to look out for in future Brazilian rankings.)
The name Rebeca also rose in 2022 following the success of Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in mid-2021 due to COVID-19. Andrade won a gold medal in the vault and a silver medal in the individual all-around (placing second to Sunisa Lee of Team USA).
I’ve never posted rankings for Toledo before, but I did post Brazil’s 2021 rankings a few months back, if you’d like to compare this list to that one.
Sources:
- Braga, Fernando. “Miguel e Alice foram os nomes de bebês mais registrados em Toledo em 2022.” Gazeta de Toledo 26 Dec. 2022.
- Murilo – Wiktionary
- Toledo, Paraná – Wikipedia
- Zé Felipe – Wikipedia
Image: Adapted from Flag of Brazil (public domain)