After a quarter of a century of hegemony, which is said soon, the name of Leo will supersede that of Marc in the 2025-2026 school year. Last year, 433 children were born whose parents chose the name Leo, compared to the 398 who were called Marc, according to Idescat data published this week.
However, the head of the Onomastics Office of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC), Joan Anton Rabella, predicts that Leo's leadership will hardly be maintained in the coming years. Regarding the girls, Júlia will continue her hegemony in the classrooms, since she is the most placed name of hers for the sixth consecutive year and she has been on the girls' podium in 15 of the last 16 years.
Rabella believes that it is difficult for Leo to "stand the test of time" since, according to him, his rise is closely related to the soccer player Leo Messi. "It is a name that is given for fashion, for prestige, for sport," he says. In fact, the name Leo was residual before 2007 when, at the age of 20, Messi entered the podium for the Ballon d'Or award for the first time. It was, however, from 2009 to 2012, that the number began to rise, quadrupling the frequency in five years and reaching more than 350 children per year. This period coincided with Messi's first four Ballons d'Or, which he won consecutively.
