Fewer babies came into the world last year but the majority of them were boys, according to official statistics.

A total of 3,999 births were registered in 2010, a drop of 3.5 per cent over the previous year, and just over half of them, 51.3 per cent, were male, the National Statistics Office said.

The most popular name for boys, at six per cent, was Luke, as it was in 2009, while it was Elena for the girls, outflanking the previous year’s top name of Maria, which dropped to third. Among boys Matthew and Jake kept their places in second and third.

There were no newcomers in the top 20 male names but Kaiden, Isaac, Nathan, Kyle, Joseph and Andrew increased in popularity.

International celebrities were still providing parents with inspiration, as in Miley, Shania, Rihanna, Denzel and Emerson.

However, the statistics office pointed to the enduring popularity of the biblical names, including John, Zachary, Eliza, Sarah and Hannah.