Lucía and Hugo: the most popular baby names in Spain
But classics such as José and María continue to top the charts for population as a whole
Lucía and Hugo are the most popular names for babies born in Spain, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), which reviewed 425,390 birth records for 2013.
Hugo has pushed Daniel off the podium after the latter topped the baby boy name charts in 2012 and 2010; Alejandro was the most popular name in 2011.
As for girls, the situation remains much more stable, with Lucía leading the rankings for the third year in a row. It is followed by María, Paula, Daniela, Martina, Carla, Sara, Sofía, Valeria and Julia.
Forty-three percent of the Spanish population has one of just nine surnames
After Hugo, the most popular boy names in 2013 were Daniel, Pablo, Alejandro, Álvaro, Adrián, David, Mario, Diego and Javier.
In the Spanish population as a whole, regardless of age, the classic names still rule. Statistics from 2014 show that the top five men’s names are Antonio, José, Manuel, Francisco and Juan: 12 percent of the entire male population has one of these names. On this ranking, Hugo is listed 70th, behind Mohammed.
As for women, María Carmen is followed by María, Carmen, Josefa and Isabel. Lucía ranks 20th on this list.
Additionally, 43 percent of the Spanish population, or 20.4 million people, have the surname González, Rodríguez, Fernández, López, Martínez, Sánchez, Pérez, Gómez or Martín.
The INE website has a tool allowing users to check how frequently their own name turns up by province, decade of birth or nationality.
