Friday, April 22, 2016

The perfect name for your baby

A few decades ago, my parents presented my sister with the greatest gift ever: a best friend for life – a little brother. They decided to call the latest addition to the family “Frédéric,” a name that is given much less often today (only 42 times in 2015).

I say less often because, as in everything, fashions change in baby names. While Frédéric used to be a name mainly for boys, the trend has reversed. In fact, among babies born since 2009, 747 girls were called Frédérique while only 610 boys were called Frédéric or Frédérick.

The reason I am talking to you about this is that once a year, in April, our baby name list is updated. In fact, I like to compare this annual event to the predictions of my namesake, Fred the Groundhog in the Gaspé: a fun tradition that attracts the media, in short, something everyone is interested in.

You are probably wondering about the relationship between Retraite Québec and baby names. Well, Retraite Québec administers child assistance, one of the Gouvernement du Québec’s major means of providing families with financial help. We use our database for that program to establish our list of baby names. Created in 1997, the list was originally called “Prénoms d’enfants du Québec – Outil d’interrogation.” Over time, our list of baby names has become the most popular service on our Web site: it is visited more than 500,000 times a year. Quite a success for a government Web page! Given the list’s popularity, we created a mobile version last year, so now people can consult it anywhere, any time.

For nearly a decade, Léa and William reigned at the top of the list of the most popular baby names in Québec. However, in 2015, Emma dethroned Léa at the head of names for girls, while Thomas joined William at the top for boys. Here is the list of the most popular baby names for boys and girls in Québec in 2015:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/409123947380613794/

The list of baby names is available on our Web site. You will find all of the names given to babies born in Québec over the last six years.

Do you have any stories to tell about your name ? Did you use our list to help you choose a name for your baby ? I’m looking forward to hearing from you!