Popular baby names in Toledo (Brazil), 2022

Toledo, Parana, Brazil

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:

  1. Miguel, 32 babies
  2. Alice, 29 – pronounced ah-lee-see in Brazilian Portuguese.
  3. Helena, 25
  4. Maria Alice, 21
  5. Cecilia, 21
  6. Arthur, 18
  7. Laura, 17
  8. Davi, 15 – a form of David.
  9. Theo, 15
  10. Samuel, 15
  11. Maria Julia, 15
  12. Bernardo, 13
  13. Gael, 12
  14. Aurora, 12
  15. Lara, 12
  16. Heitor, 11
  17. Ravi, 10 – a form of Rafael.
  18. Julia, 10
  19. Maria Clara, 9
  20. Arthur Miguel, 9
  21. Joaquim, 9
  22. Gabriel, 9
  23. Vicente, 9
  24. Lorenzo, 9
  25. Isabelly, 8
  26. Sofia, 8
  27. Livia, 8
  28. Augusto, 8
  29. Heloisa, 8
  30. Eloa, 8
  31. Nicolas, 8
  32. Noah, 8
  33. Rafael, 8
  34. Benicio, 7
  35. Maria Eduarda, 7
  36. Emanuel, 7
  37. Valentina, 7
  38. Lucas, 7
  39. Maria Cecilia, 6
  40. Isaac, 6
  41. Anthony, 6
  42. Catarina, 6
  43. Agatha, 6
  44. Murilo, 6 – (pronounced moo-ree-loh) based on the Spanish surname Murillo, which is derived from the Spanish word muro, meaning “wall.”
  45. Pedro, 6
  46. Guilherme, 6
  47. Rebeca, 6
  48. Eloah, 6
  49. Antonella, 6
  50. 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:

Popular baby names in Estonia, 2021

Estonia

According to Eesti Statistika, the most popular baby names in Estonia last year were Mia and Robin.

Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Mia
  2. Sofia
  3. Emily
  4. Hanna
  5. Nora
  6. Emma
  7. Eva
  8. Alisa
  9. Marta
  10. Lenna

Boy Names

  1. Robin
  2. Oliver
  3. Mark
  4. Sebastian
  5. Hugo
  6. Henri
  7. Rasmus
  8. Martin
  9. Miron
  10. Kristofer

In the girls’ top 10, Hanna and Nora replaced Saara and Maria.

In the boys’ top 10, Mark, Henri, Martin, Miron, and Kristofer replaced Jakob, Oskar, Aron, Artur, and Robert.

The press release also mentioned some of the ways in which Estonian pop culture has influenced Estonian baby names recently. Here’s the English translation:

The name Stefan quickly began to spread last year. Famous people’s name choices can also create trends — Miss Rubi Rahula already has 24 namesakes today. In the last three years, 22 girls have been named Eia and 43 have been named Jete since the great Christmas film screened in 2018. Last year, nine fans of the Revenge Office named their child Lumilee, Lumi Lee or Lumi-Lee.

And here’s some context:

  • Singer Stefan Airapetjan won the first season (March-May, 2020) of the Estonian version of the Masked Singer (2020-).
  • Rubi Rahula (b. 2017) is the daughter of Estonian celebrity (?) couple Anni and Tomi Rahula, whose 2018 book Tule meie juurde (English: Come to us) detailed their struggles with infertility.
  • Eia and Jete were characters in the Estonian children’s adventure film Eia’s Christmas at Phantom Owl Farm (2018).
  • The character Lumi-Lee Aigo was introduced in 2021 on the Estonian comedy-crime TV show “Revenge Office” (2009-).

In 2020, the top names in Estonia were Sofia and Robin.

Source: Eestis sai taas enim lapsi nimeks Robin või Mia

Babies named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Prussian military leader Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742-1819)
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

At the age of 71, retired Prussian military leader Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher returned to active service after war broke out (again) between Prussia and France in early 1813.

Later the same year, he was one of the victors in the Battle of Leipzig (the “largest military engagement in 19th-century Europe”), and, in mid-1815, he became an important contributor to the Allied defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Many dozens of babies were named for Blücher in the early 1800s. Most of them were born in Germany and England, but others were born in the U.S. and elsewhere. Here’s a sampling…

  • Frederick Von Blucher Scrutton, b. 1814 in England
  • John Christoph Blucher Ehringhaus, b. 1814 in the U.S. (North Carolina)
  • William Blucher Dolton, b. 1814 in England
  • Christian Gebhard Lebrecht Karup, b. 1814 in Denmark
  • Blucher Wellington Macan, b. 1815 in England
  • Gebhard Leberecht Friedrich Wilhelm Klammrott, b. 1815 in Germany
  • Wellington Blucher Peirce, b. 1815 in the U.S. (Vermont)
  • Friedrich Gebhard Leberecht Conrad, b. circa 1815 in Germany
  • Henry Wellington Blucher Haggis, b 1816 in England
  • Blücher Wellington Bülow Leopold Herrmann, b. circa 1816 in Germany
    • His third given name no doubt refers to Bülow. :)
  • Franz Blücher Wellington Victor Fischer, b. 1816 in Prussia
  • Gebhard Lebrecht Weltzein, b. 1816 in Germany
  • Blucher Ingham, b. circa 1817 in England
  • Paul Gebhard Lebrecht Riebow, b. 1818 in Germany
  • Nelson Wellington Blucher Jefferys, b. 1819 in England
  • Wellington Blucher Fisher, b. 1819 in the U.S. (West Virginia)
  • Picton Blucher Liddle, b. circa 1820 in England
    • His first name refers to Gen. Thomas Picton, who was killed at Waterloo.
  • Marshall Blucher Dumford, b. circa 1821 in the U.S. (Ohio)
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Gebhard Leberecht Büttner, b. 1822 in Germany

A handful of German baby girls got feminized versions of the name, such as Blücherdine, Blücherine, Blüchertine, and Blücherhilde (hilde means “battle, war”).

Blücher’s middle name, Leberecht, was a relatively recent Protestant coinage made up of the German words lebe, “live,” and recht, “right.”

Sources:

Popular baby names in Peru, 2020

Peru

According to Peru’s National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC), the most popular baby names in the country last year were Mia and Liam.

Peru released a single set of rankings that combined both genders, so here are Peru’s top 20 baby names overall for 2020:

  1. Liam, 4,179 babies
  2. Thiago, 3,398
  3. Dylan, 3,150
  4. Mia, 2,510
  5. Gael, 2,484
  6. Camila, 1,929
  7. Alessia, 1,856
  8. Luciana, 1,838
  9. Mateo, 1,837
  10. Zoe, 1,530
  11. Ian, 1,458
  12. Luis, 1,374
  13. Valentina, 1,335
  14. Aitana, 1,298
  15. Danna, 1,295
  16. Lucas, 1,248 (tie)
  17. Santiago, 1,248 (tie)
  18. Luana, 1,239
  19. Juan, 1,228
  20. Ariana, 1,213

I haven’t been able to track down Peru’s rankings for 2019, but in 2018 the top two names were the same.

RENIEC regularly tweets about Peru’s unusual baby names, so I can also tell you that, within the last few years, the country has welcomed babies named…

  • Lapadula (15 babies) + Gianluca Lapadula (4)
  • Peter Parker (5) + Spiderman (1)
  • Gareca (3)
    • after former Argentine soccer player Ricardo Gareca, who now manages Peru’s national team
  • Mark Zuckerberg (2)
  • Bo-derek (1) + Boderek (1)
  • Bad Bunny
  • Beethovena
  • Gremlins
  • Kardasham
  • Neilamstrong
  • Netflix
  • Philcollins
  • Pringles
  • Rafael Nadal

Finally, Peru has put together several cool online booklets (PDFs) highlighting the names and naming practices of various indigenous groups within the country, so here’s a sampling of names from each of the booklets…

  • Aimara names:
    • Amuyiri, “thinker”
    • Iqilla, “flower”
    • Phuyo, “bird feather”
    • Qhispi, “quartz, rock crystal, transparent object, mirror”
    • Thalutari, “calming, lulling”
  • Asháninkas names:
    • Chabaka, species of toucan
    • Kamore, “galaxy, milky way”
    • Manchori, “herbalist”
    • Sabaro, species of parrot
    • Yonamine, “act of looking at you”
  • Awajún names:
    • Esámat, “heal the wound”
    • Nanchíjam, “little bird that eats rice”
    • Púmpuk, owl species
    • Tíi, “hard as stone” (implies stoicism)
    • Úum, “blowgun”
  • Jaqaru names:
    • Kukiri, “pigeon, dove”
    • Nup’i, “the heat that is received from the sun’s rays”
    • Pajshi, “moon”
    • Qajsiri, “waterfall”
    • Waraja, “star”
  • Matsés names:
    • Badi
    • Chidopiu
    • Didu
    • Mëbu
    • Tamu
  • Quechua names:
    • Liwyaq, “lightning”
    • Qullqi, gold or silver metal
    • Waqra, “horn”
    • Willka, “sun”
    • Yaku, “water”
  • Shipibo-Konibo names:
    • Biri, “dazzling”
    • Kesin, “strip; fine and transparent banana fiber”
    • Panshin, “yellow”
    • Xeka, “vanilla”
    • Wasan, “puffin”
  • Wampís names:
    • Apaape, “elusive”
    • Chunchumanch, “snail”
    • Dekentai, “bruise” (implies strength)
    • Mamainkur, “yucca flower”
    • Pamau, “tapir”

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