Determining the exact total number of names that exist in the world is a virtually impossible task. Especially because the registry office only allows the registration of some made-up baby names in Spain.
For us, this is an impossible task, but not for websites that specialize in this topic, such as Forebears, an expert in analyzing the popularity of different first and last names. Its database brings together more than 30 million names that are prevalent in all (or almost all) countries of the world, and thanks to this, it has created a document ranking the world’s most popular and common names.
Names that most people have, but that people also know the most when we ask them. Want a surprising fact? Many of them are Spanish (and, in fact, according to the National Institute of Statistics, they are on the list of the most common names in our country).
However, out of all of them, we are left with the name of the first boy to appear on the list. And although the first is not the case, the second is, and no, it does not appear in its translation into another language, but in the original, which we all know in Spain.
The most common boy’s name in the world
According to this website, the most popular boy’s name in the world is Mohammed, which is shared by more than 45 million people. A name of Arabic origin that is translated into Spanish as Muhammad.
The second most common boy’s name worldwide is Spanish
Although we cannot skip Mohammed, the truth is that if we look further down the list, in fourth place we find Jose (yes, in his Spanish translation) as another of the most famous and well-known names around the world.
Let us remember that Jose is a name that comes from Aramaic and that in Hebrew he is called Yosef, with great biblical presence since he was the father of Jesus of Nazareth. You could say that it means “increase” and that it is also one of the most common names in Spain (although not the most popular).
Jose takes the cake, but he is not the only name well known in our country to appear on the list:
- David appears in position 13
- Juan takes 19th place
- Daniel is in 24th place
- Luis on the 25th
- Antonio (the most common name in Spain) appears at position 28
- Francisco in the year 32
- Pedro is number 50
- Manuel in position number 62
If we look at the list of ancestors, we can conclude that the names that are most common in the world are also found in Spain (if we take into account the INE graphics).
However, there is something strange to highlight: Antonio, the most common name in our country, is by no means the most popular name internationally. Jose, Juan or David take the cake in front of him.
