The most popular baby names for girls were Melokuhle (meaning good things), followed by Omphile and Iminathi. "In general, the popular baby forenames for males and females reflect positive hopes for the child, express beliefs and are inspired by positive connotations of both love and acceptance," Statistics SA say. Dlamini was the most common baby surname in 2021, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu. Mokoena (sixth on the list) was the most popular surname not from these clans. Some 949 757 births were registered in 2021, with 21.4% from Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (20.4%).

Source: News 24 December 25, 2022 12:45 UTC