A new report published by Statistics South Africa found that almost 1 million babies were born in 2021, with more than 40% from two provinces: Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 60% of births were registered without parental data.
“However, this is expected to change in the coming years, as in September 2021 the Constitutional Court ruled that this section of the Birth and Death Registration Law is unconstitutional. This means that single parents can now register their information on your children’s birth certificate at the Department of the Interior,” reported Statistics SA.
Statistics SA found a growing number of teen mothers in 2021. A total of 45,257 births were to mothers aged 17 or younger. Some 42 babies were born to mothers between the ages of 11 and 12.
The most popular baby names for girls were Melokuhle (meaning good things), followed by Omphile and Iminathi.
For boys, the main name was Lethabo (meaning joy and happiness), followed by Lubanzi and Melokuhle. Melokuhle, Lethabo, and Lethokuhle appeared on the top ten list of baby names for both men and women.
Source: SA Statistics
“In general, popular baby names for men and women reflect positive hopes for the child, express beliefs, and are inspired by positive connotations of both love and acceptance,” says Statistics SA.
Source: SA Statistics
Dlamini was the most common baby surname in 2021, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu.
Nine of the top ten surnames were from the Nguni clans (isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati). Mokoena (sixth on the list) was the most popular surname outside of these clans.
Some 949,757 births were registered in 2021, with 21.4% in Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (20.4%).
