Belgium: Mohamed most popular name in Brussels, Antwerp

Belgium: Mohamed most popular name in Brussels, Antwerp

For the sixth year in a row, Emma was the most popular name in Belgium last year. Among boys Noah is back as number one, and Mohamed is the most popular boy's name in the Brussels Region and the Antwerp province, according to new statistics by the Directorate-general Statistics and Economic information.

In Flanders, Emma and Noah were the most popular names. In Wallonia, Léa and Nathan and in the Brussels Region, Sarah and Mohamed. It appears that there's barely any corresponding matches between the Regions. Flanders and Wallonia have barely two names in common (Emma and Louise for girls, Noah and Lucas for boys). Flanders and the Brussels Region don't have any names in common in the top 10.

In the national list, Sarah (419) fell from #3 to #6. Léa (458) is now third, Louise (520) is second, far from the leader in first place: Emma (726). Among boys, Noah (740) again got to first place , followed by Nathan (695) and Lucas (654)

The provinces also have their own top-10 lists. In Limburg and West-Flanders Noah didn't get into the top ten most popular names. Mohamed is the most popular name in the Antwerp province, but doesn't get into the first forty in the other Flemish provinces. Among girls names, Emma gets into the top three in every province.

Top ten most popular names in the Brussels Region:
Boys: Mohamed (236), Adam (194), Rayan (95), Ayoub (77), Gabriel (73), Alexandre (62), Anas (59), Hamza (59), Nathan (58) and Amine (57)

Girls: Sarah (103), Lina (90), Aya (83), Sara (79), Yasmine (75), Imane (70), Rania (61), Ines (60), Nour (55) and Inès (54)


Top ten most popular names in the Antwerp province:
Boys: Mohamed (109), Noah (96), Seppe (96), Daan (95), Kobe (94), Robbe (91), Senne (85), Alexander (84), Lars (77) and Thomas (76)

Girls: Emma (109), Lore (105), Marie (103), Noor (95), Lotte (87), Julie (85), Amber (80), Elise (79), Louise (76) and Hanne (74)

Source: HLN, Statistics Belgium (Dutch)

See also:
* Antwerp: 40% of elementary school students are Muslim
* Brussels: Possible Muslim majority in 15-20 years
* Brussels: 56.5% immigrant population
* Belgium: 12% Muslims in French-speaking community