Most Popular Baby Girl Names in Tunisia: The Latest Official List (2022)

The name given most often to baby girls born in Tunisia in 2022 was Maryam: 2,613 babies. Rayhan follows with 1,879, and Lina is third with 1,634. Maryam was first in all three years we have (2020, 2021 and 2022).

The list comes from a bulletin published by Tunisia's National Institute of Statistics (INS) on 29 December 2023, based on civil registration records. To be clear: we could not find any newer INS name list for babies born in 2023, 2024 or 2025. That is why the title says 2022. It is the most recent official data available for Tunisia.

The top 10 girls' names of 2022

In Tunisia, names written in Latin letters usually follow French pronunciation, so the same name can appear with different spellings in different documents. The Latin column gives the spelling used in the INS bulletin and is only a reading guide. The reference spelling is the Arabic one, and the Abjad value is calculated from it. For three names we could not find a clear meaning in reliable sources, and we say so instead of guessing.

A few proportions help. Tunisia recorded 71,807 baby girls in 2022. Maryam accounts for about 3.6% of them. The top 10 together come to 15,961 babies, roughly 22.2% of girls born. More than three quarters of girls received names outside the top 10.

Three years side by side: 2020, 2021, 2022

The figure in brackets is the number of babies given the name that year. "Not in top 10" only means the name was outside that year's top 10; the INS lists stop at 10, so lower positions are unknown.

True or false? Five readings of the table

"Maryam is given more every year." False. Its rank has not moved, but the number of babies given the name fell from 3,479 to 3,167 and then to 2,613: 866 fewer in two years. In 2022 it was still 734 babies ahead of the second name.

"Rayhan climbed to second because more babies got the name." False. The number edged down from 1,900 to 1,879. It rose from 4th to 2nd because names above it fell further: Mayar, second in 2021, dropped from 2,182 to 1,624.

"Every top-10 name declined compared with 2021." False. Among names that were also in the 2021 top 10, two rose: Lina (365 more babies, from 9th to 3rd) and Beya (just 6 more, still 6th).

"The list is the same every year." False. Jouri (Damask rose, 8th) and Eline (10th) entered the top 10 in 2022; neither was in the top 10 in 2020 or 2021. Zaynab and Isra fell out of the top 10 in 2022. Maysan appeared only in 2020, in 4th place.

"All of Tunisia chooses the same name." Not quite. According to the regional detail in the INS bulletin, in 2022 Rayhan was first in Bizerte, Nabeul, Zaghouan, Siliana and Greater Tunis, while Mayar led in Jendouba.

Names with a Qur'anic link

Maryam is the only woman named in the Qur'an. The word rayhan occurs in Surat al-Rahman (55:12). Sujud, prostration, is a word found in several verses (for example al-Fath 48:29), and it is striking to see it among Tunisia's top 10 girls' names. Zaynab and Isra are much loved across the Muslim world; Isra recalls the Prophet's Night Journey. Yasmin and Lina are also widely used outside the Arab world.

An Abjad window

We calculate the Abjad value as the sum of the letters in the name's established Arabic spelling: a shadda is not doubled, the hamza's seat letter counts as written, and the round ta (ة) counts as ha (5). For example, Beya (بية): ب 2 + ي 10 + ة 5 = 17.

• Element of the first letter: in the top 10, 4 names begin with a Fire letter (Maryam and Mayar م, Aseel أ, Eline إ), 2 with Earth (Rayhan ر, Lina ل), 2 with Air (Beya ب, Yasmin ي) and 2 with Water (Sujud س, Jouri ج). The spread is balanced, and no element makes a name superior. (Some authors classify the letters differently.)
• Highest value: Maryam, 290, followed by Rayhan 269 and Mayar 251, both carrying ر (200).
• Lowest value: Beya, 17, then Sujud, 73.
• Shared value: Lina (لينا) and Eline (إلين) both total 91. The letters are the same (alif, lam, ya, nun), only in a different order.

That last pair shows the real point. Lina and Eline carry the same number, yet they do not sit in a family in the same way. In the Abjad tradition what matters is not a single number but the picture formed by the letters and elements of the baby's name together with the parents' names. For the child's star-chart (yıldızname) sign, the name is also calculated together with the mother's name.

Final word

The Tunisian list shows what families there chose in 2022, not what suits your family. Weigh the meaning carefully, settle the spelling, and judge harmony together with the family's names.

This article is for information only. Abjad interpretations are based on tradition and contain no definitive judgement or guarantee about any name.

Source: Tunisia National Institute of Statistics (INS), "Most common names" publication (2022 births, 29 December 2023). Figures are the numbers of baby girls given each name among births entered in the civil register (National Computer Centre, CNI). No newer official list was found (October 2026).