Across Belgium, the first names for both men and women have remained unchanged since 2023. However, some have majorly dropped in popularity while others have surprisingly risen.
Belgian statistical office Statbel releases an annual list of the most popular first names, surnames and baby names, which not only includes Belgian nationals but everyone who is registered with a commune in the country.
While 2023 marked a significant change when it came to male names – Marc became the new number one, dethroning Jean which had topped the list for years – the names in the ten remain the same as last year. This year too, Marc remains in first place, with 61,231 men bearing the name on 1 January 2024, down from 62,023 men in 2023. Jean remains in second place (59,366).
As was the case last year, the most common first names within the top ten have continued to drop in popularity. All seven most frequently used names are given to fewer people in 2024 than in 2023 (Jean and Michel saw their popularity decline most). Meanwhile, the last three in the top ten have become more common: there are around 800 more Mohameds, 124 additional Davids and 23 more people named Thomas.
Meanwhile, Maria retained its place as the most common female name, with almost 105,000 Marias in the country – a significant drop from 108,358 in 2023. As it is a more old-fashioned name, more elderly Marias are passing away and are not being replaced by new namesakes. Still, it remains the most popular name by almost 20,000 people.
The top ten female names also remained unchanged from last year, except Nathalie, which is the only female given name in the leaders' ranking to rise (+102) and which took over third place from Martine (-354).
Regional differences
Although some French-speaking names are also common in Flanders, when looking at the lists of most popular names per region in Belgium, the language divide and multiculturalism in these places are more reflected in the various top ten rankings.
While Marc remains the top male name in Flanders, Jean is still in first place in Wallonia. More Dutch-sounding names such as Jan, Dirk, Peter, Johan and Tom also appear in the Flemish top ten, while names such as Philippe, Nicolas and Pierre appear in the Walloon top ten.
In Brussels, more international names are featured, such as Mohammed, Ahmed and Daniel. The same is true for female names: Fatima only appears in the Brussels top ten, while different spellings of the same name appear on both sides of the language divide (Ann and Anna in Flanders, Anne in Wallonia).
Surnames and baby names
Due to Flanders having a larger population than Wallonia and Brussels' names varying much more, meaning fewer people have the same name, the most common surnames in the Dutch-speaking region disproportionately influence the overall Belgian figure.
The most common surname in Belgium remains Peeters (30,558 people had this name in 2024, of whom 27,000 live in Flanders), followed by Janssens (27,927 in total, 24,400 in Flanders) and Maes (24,233 in total, 21,000 in Flanders).
In Wallonia, the three most common surnames are Dubois, Lambert and Martin. Compared to 2023, the top ten surnames at the national level as well as in the Walloon Region remain the same. In Flanders, Willems overtaken Merten to reach fifth place.
The biggest changes were seen in the Brussels-Capital Region. The most common names here in 2024 are Diallo, Bah and Barry. The French-language surname Dubois overtook Janssens, and the popular Spanish and Portuguese surname Camara overtook the Dutch-language surname Peeters.
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Finally, when it comes to baby names, Olivia is the most frequently given first name to newborn girls in Belgium for the fifth year in a row. However, it has lost popularity as 587 babies were given this name compared to 636 in the previous ranking.
It is still ahead of Emma (429 babies were given this first name), which was the most popular girl's name for 16 years. Louise again took third place. However, the top ten has seen three new entries, with Sofia landing in fourth, Eva in seventh and Juliette in tenth.
Noah was the most popular first name among boys for the third year in a row, although 68 fewer babies were given this name. It is followed by Arthur and Liam. Here too, a new name entered the top ten: Matteo moved up a few places to reach the tenth position.
