Light seems to have guided many parents to name their babies last year as the most popular names for boys and girls remained Luke and Elena.

Both names, which mean “light”, were also the top of the tots in 2010, according to the National Statistics Office.

Over 100 Lukes, Luca or Lucas joined Maltese society last year as did 99 Elenas or its derivatives Ella or Ylenia.

There were 4,283 births last year, 7.1 per cent more than 2010. More than half were boys.

Matthew remained the second most popular name among boys. Kaiden replaced Jake in third place and Michael moved up two places to fourth.

Benjamin, Liam, Zachary, Daniel and Alexander became less popular in contrast with Gabriel, Jacob and Jack, which were preferred by parents.

For girls, Elena was the most popular name followed by Julia, up from seventh place in 2010. Maria came third followed by Elizabeth.

Hailey, Jade, Keira, Thea, Faith, Francesca and Shania dropped out of the top 20.

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