The changing nature of society in its choice of first or 'Christian' names is reflected in a list of all the names chosen for babies born in Ibiza in the 5 years from 1996.
Only one of the traditional girls' names from yesteryear, Maria, remains popular with 124 new citizens christened thus. Coming in fast are more modern, non-religious names such as Andrea (107), Paula (85), Laura (74), Marina (69), and Mari Juana (17), which have supplanted the more Catholic Remedios (Remedies), Dolores (Pains), Purificación (Purification), and so on. This is a far cry from the days not too long ago when every baby girl in Spain had to have Maria as one of her names!
For the boys, 'Jose' has slipped from the number one slot to be replaced by Alejandro (101), Daniel (93), Carlos (80), Marc (74), and Adrián (69).
However the switch to secular names is not the only difference, as the changing make up of the island's population is demonstrated by the fact that 46% of the names were in Spanish, with 30% in Catalan, and the remaining 24% had names which are the same in both languages.