An Irish four-letter name is increasingly popular in Alicante

This diminutive form stems from German, means “protector” and has numerous famous namesakes

Liam Gallagher

Naming a child is a big decision for parents; sometimes they agree and it is decided straight away, while for other families it can be a bone of contention.

Currently, the most popular boys’ names in Spain are Martín, Mateo, Hugo, Leo and Lucas, while for girls they are Lucía, Sofía, Martina, Valeria and María.

According to the latest data from the National Institute for Statistics (INE), boys born in Alicante province are no longer being called by the most popular names of the last 30 years, which were Jose, Antonio, Francisco, Manuel or Vicente; between 2020 and 2023 they were Martín, Hugo, Leo, Mateo, Lucas, Enzo, Alejandro, Daniel, Marc and Manuel.

The remaining names in this “top 20” are Pablo, Mario, Adrián, Oliver, Álvaro, Luca, Marcos, Thiago, Liam and David.

For girls, parents in Alicante chose Sofía, Lucía, Martina, Aitana, María, Emma, Valeria, Julia, Mía, Carla, Vega, Alma, Sara, Daniela, Carmen, Olivia, Paula, Lola, Alba and Chloe.

Amongst the boys’ names, Liam is noteworthy because it has not appeared in the INE data before, but seems to have become popular all of a sudden.

Moreover, Liam also now appears in the lists of most common names for several other provinces, including the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona, Álava, Ourense, Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Liam is originally an Irish name and an abbreviated form of Uilliam, the Gaelic version of William, which is Guillermo in Spanish.

The name William derives from the Germanic Willhelm, which is composed of two parts: “Wil” means willpower or desire; and “helm” means protection, helmet or defence.

As such, the name could be interpreted etymologically as meaning “determined protector” or “desire to protect”.

With the passing of time, in the English-speaking world William gave rise to diminutives or variants, including Will, Bill or Liam, amongst others.

Liam is a short name that is easy to pronounce in Spanish, which is one reason it could be increasingly popular with parents in Alicante.

There are also numerous famous Liams who could have influenced this choice, including actors (Liam Neeson, Liam Hemsworth or Liam Garrigan), athletes (tennis player Liam Broady, cricketer Liam Plunkett or ex-footballer Liam Brady) and musicians (Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Liam Howlett of The Prodigy or Liam Payne of One Direction).

Image: Thesupermat / CC BY-SA 4.0