It may have been only the second parliamentary sitting of the year, but any backlog built up over the Christmas recess did not stop Prime Minister Joseph Muscat from providing a spot of lighter information on Tuesday: the most popular baby names of 2018.

In answer to a question by government whip Byron Camilleri, the Prime Minister told Parliament that Emma was the most popular name for baby girls last year, retaining the spot it has held for four years, followed by Mia and Valentina.

Noah was the most popular boy’s name, despite not featuring in the top three last year. It was followed by Luca, which dropped from first to second, and Liam rounding off the top three.

There was no room in the top three for Ella, which had featured among between 2013 and 2017, or for Ben, last year’s second most popular boy’s name.

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