Popular Colombian Names for the Season

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Fifteen years ago, my husband and I spent several days in rural Boyaca researching his family history -- among the many choice names was one little girl born the day after Christmas named Melchora Gaspara Baltazara.

She was very literally named after all Three Kings.

Not sure how I missed this one, but last year there was a report about how Christmas names are very popular in Colombia. In fact, the two most popular names are the Spanish version of Joseph (Jose) and Mary (Maria).


Just in time for the season, I thought I'd share this with you.

In 2009, there were

1,641,274 men with the name José
2,611,793 people (men and women) with the name María
849, 511 with the name of Jesús

619 with the name Melchor
1,643 with the name Gaspar
2,351 with the name Baltazar

Read the full report here:

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