Neymar, Denzel, Kendra and Rihanna are new baby names of 2013

Luke and Elena rose to first place as the most popular names given to newborns in Malta last year.

There were 4,078 live births last year, down by 3.6 per cent over 2012, of which 52.4 per cent were boys.

At 5.0 per cent, Luke (and its variants) was the most popular name given to baby boys last year. Matthew, including its variants, went down to second place while Jacob (and its variants) placed third.

Names which gained in popularity include John, Michael, Andrew, Alexander, Nicholas, Daniel, Mason, Jack, Thomas, Julian and Gabriel. Kaiden, Aiden, Isaac, Jaden, Nathan, Joseph and James decreased in popularity. Adam, Noah, Samuel and Kieran placed in the top 20 list of names for the first time, while Yannick, Kyle and Denzel failed to re-appear.

Elena (including Elenia, Helena and Ella) was the most popular name given to baby girls during 2013. Eliza and its variants placed second. Julia ranked as the third most popular for two consecutive years.

New entrants to the top 20 girls’ list include Alexandra, Karla, Nina, Nicole, Rachel, Keira and Claire. Names declining in popularity include Lea, Christina, Amy, Mikela, Jade, Chloe, Amber and Jasmine. Chloe fell to seventeenth, from ninth place in the preceding year.

Big climbers included Emilia and Alison, which rose by eight and six places respectively.

The predominance of biblical names or saints was once again apparent in the names given by parents to newborns. Examples include Matthew, Jacob, Luke, Zachary, John and Isaac for boys and Eliza, Helen, Maria, Anna, Catherine and Sarah for girls.

Some parents were also influenced by TV drama, pop culture and sports when naming babies.

Examples include Mason, Denzel, Blake, Neymar and Drake for boys and Kendra, Holly, Rihanna, Sienna, Norah, Miley, Megan and Scarlett for girls.