Marc is the most common first name for Belgian men, while Maria retains first place among women. Olivia and Noah were the most popular first names for newborn girls and boys last year according to new data from the Belgian statistics service Statbel.
Olivia and Noah most popular names for newborns, Marc and Maria still most common
Colin Clapson
Published:
Marc and Maria reign supreme, even if they are in decline. Compared to last year Marc is losing popularity. Still, Marc is doing better than Jean, a name that declined even more across all years. On 1 January this year, there were 61,231 men named Marc. Patrick is a solid third.
Among women, Maria is still the most common name, though the number declined by almost 4,000 last year. Belgium counts some 104,000 Marias. This version of the name is considerably more popular than Marie that is ranked second. Nathalie is one of the few names that did not decline in the Top 10, overtaking Martine to take third place among women.
Babies often listen to the name Olivia or Noah
Among newborn babies, the same first names continue to lead the popularity polls. Last year, 587 Olivias were added, significantly more than the 429 Emmas. Emma headed the list for 16 years, until Olivia took over in 2019.
Louise came home in third position ahead of Lina, Sofia and Alice. Sofia, by the way, is the new big hit: the name is new in the Top 10, and immediately ranks on 4th place. Eva and Juliette are the other two newcomers in the most popular 10.
Among boys, Noah continues to do well, with 589 new Noahs. This puts Noah in first place for the 3rd year in a row. Arthur and Liam complete the Top 3. In the top 10, there is only one newcomer: Matteo on number 10. In the Top 100, the strongest risers are Ayden, Noé and Ibrahim.
Peeters, Janssens and Maes top surnames' ranking
When it comes to the most common surname, the usual suspects in Belgium are Peeters (30,558), Janssens (27,927) and Maes (24,233). These are also immediately the leaders in the Flemish region, with Jacobs on 4 and Willems on 5.
In Wallonia, Dubois is the most common surname, followed by Lambert and Martin. In the Brussels-Capital Region, Diallo is on 1, followed by Bah and Barry.