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ArchivesSouth African popular baby names!
A few years ago, our national Statistics Department announced that it would be listing popular baby names; this happened sporadically if at all, but it was a declaration of intent and therefore welcome.
Today, this appeared:
A new report released by Statistics South Africa found that almost 1 million babies were born in 2021, with more than 40% from two provinces – Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 60% of births were registered without details of fathers.
"However, this is expected to change in the coming years as in September 2021 the Constitutional Court ruled that this section of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act is unconstitutional. This means unmarried fathers can now have their information registered in the birth certificate of their children at the Department of Home Affairs," Statistics SA reported.
Statistics SA found an increasing number of teenage mothers in 2021. A total of 45 257 births were from mothers aged 17 years and younger. Some 42 babies were born to mothers between the ages of 11 and 12.
The most popular baby names for girls were Melokuhle (meaning good things), followed by Omphile and Iminathi.
For boys, the top name was Lethabo (meaning joy and happiness), followed by Lubanzi and Melokuhle. Melokuhle, Lethabo and Lethokuhle appeared on both the males and females top ten baby name list.
"In general, the popular baby forenames for males and females reflect positive hopes for the child, express beliefs and are inspired by positive connotations of both love and acceptance," Statistics SA say.
Dlamini was the most common baby surname in 2021, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu.
Nine of the top ten surnames were from the Nguni clans (isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati). Mokoena (sixth on the list) was the most popular surname not from these clans.
Some 949 757 births were registered in 2021, with 21.4% from Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (20.4%).
ETA: I can't vouch for any of the meanings, but this is what an internet search produced:
Omphile = Gift of God
Iminathi = God stands with us
Melokuhle - Waiting for (or Destined for) goodness (or greatness)
Lethokuhle - Bringer of good things
Today, this appeared:
A new report released by Statistics South Africa found that almost 1 million babies were born in 2021, with more than 40% from two provinces – Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 60% of births were registered without details of fathers.
"However, this is expected to change in the coming years as in September 2021 the Constitutional Court ruled that this section of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act is unconstitutional. This means unmarried fathers can now have their information registered in the birth certificate of their children at the Department of Home Affairs," Statistics SA reported.
Statistics SA found an increasing number of teenage mothers in 2021. A total of 45 257 births were from mothers aged 17 years and younger. Some 42 babies were born to mothers between the ages of 11 and 12.
The most popular baby names for girls were Melokuhle (meaning good things), followed by Omphile and Iminathi.
For boys, the top name was Lethabo (meaning joy and happiness), followed by Lubanzi and Melokuhle. Melokuhle, Lethabo and Lethokuhle appeared on both the males and females top ten baby name list.
"In general, the popular baby forenames for males and females reflect positive hopes for the child, express beliefs and are inspired by positive connotations of both love and acceptance," Statistics SA say.
Dlamini was the most common baby surname in 2021, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu.
Nine of the top ten surnames were from the Nguni clans (isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati). Mokoena (sixth on the list) was the most popular surname not from these clans.
Some 949 757 births were registered in 2021, with 21.4% from Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (20.4%).
ETA: I can't vouch for any of the meanings, but this is what an internet search produced:
Omphile = Gift of God
Iminathi = God stands with us
Melokuhle - Waiting for (or Destined for) goodness (or greatness)
Lethokuhle - Bringer of good things
This message was edited 12/24/2022, 10:45 PM
6
Replies
Hopefully they will release more than the top 10 in future years!
https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=16039
https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=16039
1
Do you have any information on which African language or languages these popular names come from?
1
Nothing that I can access at present: if I find this info, I'll pass it on.
Statistically, I'd expect all the top names to be from the Nguni group of languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele. Their speakers make up about 43% of our population, and speakers of the other major language group (Sesotho) make up just over 21%. Dlamini is an Nguni surname and is the most popular, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu, also Nguni.
Statistically, I'd expect all the top names to be from the Nguni group of languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele. Their speakers make up about 43% of our population, and speakers of the other major language group (Sesotho) make up just over 21%. Dlamini is an Nguni surname and is the most popular, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu, also Nguni.
4
That's quite interesting, thanks for sharing. However, I have a question: are English and Dutch/Afrikaans names still given? Or did the African names (eg. Xhosa, Sesotho, Zulu, etc.) lead the popularity?
1
Speakers of African languages form the great majority of our population! Quite often a child is given an African name as its fn and an English or Afrikaans one as its mn; this started as a courtesy to people like me who have difficulty pronouncing some of the sounds, clicks in particular, and also to facilitate entry into the labour market! This custom has, I think, been disappearing since democracy.
2
I see, thanks!
1