UNDISCLOSED, GERMANY - AUGUST 12: A 4-day-old newborn baby lies in a baby bed in the maternity ward of a hospital (a spokesperson for the hospital asked that the hospital not be named) on August 12, 2011 in a city in the east German state of Brandenburg, Germany. According to data released by Eurostat last week Germany, with 8.3 births per 1,000 people, has the lowest birth rate in all of Europe. Eastern Germany, which not only suffers from a low birth rate, also has a declining population due to young people moving away because of high unemployment in the region. Europe as a whole suffers from a low birth rate and a growing elderly population. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (2011 Getty Images)
Latinos are nothing if not consistent, at least in what they decide to name their children. In 2013, for the seventh year in a row, Santiago and Sofía have been the most popular picks.
For boys, Mateo, Matías, Sebastián and Diego ranked No. 2 to 5, while Isabella, Valentina, Camila and Valeria rounded out the Top 5 for girls. The rankings were the same among Hispanics in the U.S. and in Latin America.
The lists were compiled by BabyCenter en Español, the Spanish-language version of a global parenting community website owned by Johnson & Johnson, which provides pre- and post-natal information for parents. Around 80 percent of all recent and expecting parents in the U.S. visit BabyCenter pages during the course of the year, many of whom register with the site and give details about themselves and their kids. More than 50,000 Spanish-speakers provided the names of children born in 2013.
“The growing tendency of Latino parents,” BabyCenter en Español editorial chief Isidra Mencos told Fox News Latino, “is to give their daughters names that have connotations of victory, strength and success.”
She also pointed out that prominent Latin Americans can influence the popularity of names. The election last spring of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis may have caused Jorge to jump from No. 63 to 34, Francisco to move up 11 notches to No. 37, and Mario – which failed to make the Top 100 last year – to pop up at No. 68.
Even Francesca climbed on the list of girl’s names.
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