Luke and Elena remain most popular names given to newborns

Luke and Elena remained the most popular names given to newborns in Malta last year. There were 4,277 live births registered at the Public Registry in Malta and Gozo last year, 4.9 per cent more than in 2013. Fifty-three per cent were boys. At 4.3 per cent, Luke (and its variants) was the most popular name given to baby boys. Matthew and Jacob, including their variants, ranked second and third most popular respectively for the second consecutive year. Names which gained in popularity during the year under review include Liam, Benjamin, Joseph, Jack, Nathan, Thomas, Julian, Noah, James and Samuel. John, Kaiden, Alexander, Andrew, Nicholas, Daniel, Aiden and Jaden decreased in popularity. Yannick and Leon placed in the top 20 list of names for the first time, while Mason, Gabriel and Keiran failed to re-appear. Elena (including Elenia, Helena and Ella) was the most popular name given to baby girls. Julia, including its variants, placed second with a popularity share of 3.6 per cent. Emma (and its variants) also gained one place and ranked as the third most popular name given to girls last year. New entrants into the girls’ top 20 list included Francesca, Sarah, Valentina and...