According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in Tunisia, the first names Youssef and Mariem retained their popularity as the most common names for newborn boys and girls in 2022. Significant changes in the top ten names include the entry of Sajed at the tenth position for boys, replacing Amen-Allah. Among girls, the names Jouri and Eline have taken the eighth and tenth positions, respectively, substituting Zeineb and Israa. The annual release of popular baby names reflects cultural trends and preferences in naming newborns in Tunisia.
At the regional level in Tunisia, the popularity of baby names reveals interesting variations. The name Youssef is most widespread in the northern half of the country, except in the governorates of Siliana and Beja, where the names Yaakoub and Yahia are favoured for boys. In southern governorates like Tozeur, Kébili, Gabes, Médenine, and Tataouine, the name Mohamed remains the most attributed to boys. For girls, Mariem is the most popular in most governorates, except in Bizerte, Nabeul, Zaghouan, Siliana, and Greater Tunis, where Rayhane is preferred. In Jendouba, Mayar tops the list for female names in 2022.
Comparing the most popular names of 2022 to those from a century ago (1922), only the names Mohamed and Ahmed have stayed in the list of the ten most popular names for newborn boys. None of the girls’ names that were popular in 1922 appear in the top 10 of 2022.
Names like Fatma, Aïcha, Mabrouka, and Khadija, which were once extremely widespread, have gradually lost popularity. For example, Fatma now ranks 41st in 2022 (35th in its variant Fatma-Zahra). Aïcha is in 20th position, Mabrouka in 285th, and Khadija in 18th in 2022. On the other hand, a century ago, the names Youssef and Mariem were only ranked 20th and 11th, respectively.
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