Idescat has published the statistics with the most frequent names for newborns in Catalonia in 2022. For the first time, Leo was the name most given to boys, after ousting Marc, who had been in that position since 1997. Due to his On the other hand, Júlia/Julia continues to be the most used name among girls for the sixth consecutive year.
According to provisional data from Idescat, in 2022 a total of 56,316 babies were born in Catalonia, which represents a decrease of 2.3% in relation to the definitive data from the previous year. Of this total, 440 girls were nicknamed as Júlia or Julia, while 433 boys were named as Leo.
As far as boys are concerned, the next most famous name was Nil (425), followed by Marc (398) and Pol (391). Ona (414), Martina (396) and Mia (372) were the most frequent names among girls after the aforementioned Júlia/Julia.
In terms of the Territorial Plan, Leo was the number most placed in the Metropolitan Area, in the Camp de Tarragona and in the Penedès. On the other hand, Jan was the most frequent in the Girona Regions, in Ponent, in the Central Regions and in the Upper Pyrenees and Aran. For his part, Marc was only the most frequent number in the Terres de l’Ebre.
In the case of girls, Júlia/Julia was the most frequent number in the Metropolitan Area, the Girona Regions, Camp de Tarragona and Penedès. “Martina” was the most placed in the Terres de l’Ebre; Wave, West; Jana, in the Central Comarques and Laia, in the High Pyrenees and Aran.
Births decreased in 5 of the 8 areas of the Territorial Plan. Penedès was the one that registered the greatest drop (-5.2%), followed by Camp de Tarragona (-3.2%). In contrast, the birth rate rose 1% in the Comarques Centrals (1%). “In general, the territories with the highest fertility also have a younger age for entering maternity,” according to the Idescat report.
The average age of maternity was 32.6 years and 31.6 years for the first child. The average age at childbearing for women of Spanish nationality was 33.2 years and that of foreign nationals was 30.8 years. Consequently, foreign women who had children in 2022 were on average 2.4 years younger than Spanish women.
