What are Jamaican parents naming their babies?
CHANCES are that you know at least one baby named Arianna (also spelt Ariana) or Jayden. That’s because these were the most popular first names given to Jamaican babies last year.
The Registrar General’s Department’s preliminary report for babies registered in 2017 shows that most boys were given the name Jayden (230), followed by Aiden (188) and Joshua (162). Jayden has been in the number one spot every year since 2010, when it took over from Daniel, a Biblefavourite which was ruling for at least five years prior. Daniel was knocked to fourth last year, followed by Nathaniel, Nathan, Malachi, Liam, Kyle, and then Jordan, to round off the top ten boys.
The top registered name for girls last year was actually Amelia (207), but without the spelling variation of the runners up Arianna (181) and Ariana (95), the pop star-inspired name would have been the clear favourite. In fourth was Kaira, followed by Gabrielle, Gabriella, Brianna, Mia, Adrianna and Savannah. Since 2005, Rihanna and Brianna alternated as the top picks, until Gabrielle dethroned them in 2010. She was the delivery room favourite until Arianna took over in 2013.
Since 2005, other boy names that have been constant top ten favourites include Alex, Justin, Matthew, Ricardo, Michael, Ajani, Anthony, and an alternative spelling of the top pick, Jaden. The name Neymar appeared as the sixth most popular name in the World Cup year of 2014, but failed to make the top 10 the following year.
Girl names such as Jada, Alexia, Christina, Tianna, Britney, Abigail, Ashley, Danielle and Akeelah have been popular in the last 12 years, in addition to last year’s top 10.
The overall ranking for the last 12 years combined saw Daniel as the top boy name with 2,505 entries, and Brianna as the top girl, with 1,654 girls being given that name.
