Female names with "M" are the most common in Belgium
Belgian women often have a first name starting with the letter M: Maria, Marie, Monique and Martine are the 4 most common female names. Nathalie completes the top 5, according to the new figures of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
For women, Maria is by far the most common first name in Flanders and in Brussels, while Marie ranks first in Wallonia.
Only for girls younger than 18 is Emma the most common, although Marie also ranks second in this category.
Belgium
| Younger than 18 | # | Between 18 and 64 | # | 65 or older | # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emma | 12.285 | 1 | Maria | 42.167 | 1 | Maria | 86.333 |
| 2 | Marie | 9.413 | 2 | Nathalie | 39.855 | 2 | Marie | 52.452 |
| 3 | Louise | 9.059 | 3 | Marie | 38.276 | 3 | Monique | 27.409 |
Jean, Marc, Patrick…
For men, Jean is the most common, followed by Marc, Patrick, Luc and Michel. Marc is the most common first name in Flanders, Jean in Wallonia and Mohamed in Brussels.
Age also plays a role. For boys younger than 18, Lucas, Noah and Louis are the most common first names. Marc, Patrick and Luc rank first among men aged 18 to 64. As for men aged 65 or older, the most common first names are Jean, André and Roger.
Belgium
| Younger than 18 | # | Between 18 and 64 | # | 65 or older | # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas | 10.946 | 1 | Marc | 53.478 | 1 | Jean | 39.768 |
| 2 | Noah | 10.428 | 2 | Patrick | 49.236 | 2 | André | 25.976 |
| 3 | Louis | 10.166 | 3 | Luc | 40.512 | 3 | Roger | 22.729 |
Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes these first names of the Belgian population per sex and age group, and also per municipality. Therefore, you can also check the top 5 for your municipality, or where your own first name is the most common.