At the start of 2021, 20 minutes had poked his nose into the huge Excel spreadsheet, published (here) in open data by the metropolis of Montpellier (Hérault), which brings together all the first names given to babies born in the Hérault capital for twenty years. We had found some funny blazes there. We thus learned that 88 Jasmine, an Aladdin, a Jafar, 16 Luke, 9 Anakin, 36 Mario, 15 Luigi and 7 Zelda had been born in Montpellier since the year 2000. But also a Zidane, 17 Rihanna (including five with a single “n”), and a Beyonce.
But above all, the metropolis of Montpellier had recorded the birth of a baby baptized… Laurent-Fabius, with a dash. Two years later, we said to ourselves that we were not going to deprive ourselves of going to browse once again in this gold mine, to see if other parents had shown themselves to be particularly inspired. Well yes. If Emma, Lucas, Adam, Léo and Jade are still and always the first names most given to children since the year 2000 in Montpellier, others are far more unusual.
Derrick, Braise and Dede
We found parents who were probably in a poetic mood when they decided on their baby’s name. A Joie, a (or a?) Taime, a Lamour, a Merveille and a Lajolie have been born in Montpellier in recent years. There was even a Lover. Pop culture always inspires. Montpellier parents baptized their babies Sherlock, Pacey and Dowson (with an “o”, yes, too bad), Indra and Lio (fans, no doubt), Padmé, Rapunzel, Jul, Menelik, Rayman, Cleopatra, Genesis, and … Derrick! There was even a Stalone (with a single “l”) in Montpellier. And an Alkapone. There are first names that seem to come out of nowhere, like Braise, Sesame or… Yeah. Yes, yes, yeah.
A Pépé and a Dédé were also born in Montpellier. Have also seen the light of day little bits of cabbage named Paris, Pau, Venice, Lorient, Ibiza, Rome and Toulouse. Parents have also chosen to have a little fun with the traditional spellings of first names. Wanessa, Wiktoria, Oscard and Thybaux were, for example, born in maternity hospitals in Montpellier. And we saved the best for last. A (or a) Godpower and a (or a) Goodluck were born in the Hérault capital. Good luck to them.