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Names of Ibiza/Eivissa II

Through the magic of statistics – they never lie – we bring you some more of Ibiza's social history

Through the magic of statistics – they never lie – we bring you some more of Ibiza's social history using only a list of popular boy's names. That's popular names, not the names of popular boys.

As with family names on the island, in years gone by, almost all of the first names were Catalan; Pau, Joan, Jordi, Vicent, Pere and so on. A list of the top 50 names for boys born in Ibiza last year reveals only 5 Catalan names remaining.

The other names in the list tell a tale of immigration from mainland Spain, and now beyond, and also of how fame influences our choices when naming our offspring.

Traditional Spanish names like Rafael, Francisco, Juan are all in the list. Regional Spain – especially the Basque country – is represented by Unai and Asier and from further afield Mohammed and Omar are kids of Ibiza's cheap labour force during the construction boom.

A couple of names show our fascination with fame; Iker is now tremendously popular after Iker Casillas captained Spain to the World Cup, and Izan, a completely new name is thought to be derived from Ethan Hawke, the popular actor.

Finally there's a very odd name at number 29 on the charts; Ayman which was probably brought to Ibiza by Geordie colonists from Newcastle, England.

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