The IBGE releases an unprecedented survey of the most usual names in Brazil, detected by the 2010 Population Census. 130,348 different names were detected in the Brazilian population, 63,456 male names and 72,814 female names, as well as names in common for both sexes. Only the first name was considered in this survey. Maria was the favorite name for women, adding up to 11.7 million persons. For men, José was the favorite, with 5.7 million persons.

The available information is organized by sex for Brazil,

Federation Units and municipalities. The survey also pointed out the most usual names up to 1929 and by decade of birth from 1930 onwards, allowing the detection of names that got into an out fashion and that appeared in a more constant way.

The Names in Brazil project is based on the list of residents in the housing units on July 31, 2010, date of reference of the 2010 Population Census. At that time, the first and last names of every resident in the housing unit were mandatorily collected. In the case of more than one resident with the same first and last names, other names were collected in order to distinguish them.

The variants of the names were accounted separately, as registered in the list of residents in the housing units at the time of data collection. As a result, names like Ana and Anna, Ian an Yan, Luis and Luiz, among others, were considered separately, according to the original spelling collected. Marks like accents, cedillas, umlauts and tildes were not taken into account, reason why the names did not include any mark.

The Names in Brazil project is available on link  https://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/nomes.

Concerning female names, Maria and Ana remained in the first and second positions, respectively, in every decade surveyed. In the third position, Francisca appeared up to the 1950s, Marcia in the 1960s, Adriana in the 1970s, Juliana in the 1980s, Jessica in the 1990s and Vitoria in the 2000s.

In regard to male names, Jose and Antonio ranked in the first and second positions, respectively, up to the 1980s. In the 1990s, Lucas rose to the first position and Jose dropped to the second. In the 2000s, Joao ranked at the top and Gabriel appeared in the second position.  Up to the 1960s and in the 1990s, Joao ranked in the third position, which was occupied by Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s, and Lucas in the 2000s.

The study also allows to detect common names used up to the 1930s, which fell into disuse in the 2000s. The name Alzira, which appeared 8,132 times before 1930, was used only 288 times in the 2000s. As to male names, Oswaldo appeared 1,335 times up to 1930, dropping to 235 records in the 2000s. Other names like Geralda, Severina, Avelino and Waldemar showed a similar behavior.  

Concerning the 1950s, names like Terezinha became less and less used, having dropped from 84,879 to 768 records in the 2000s, and Neusa, which appeared 36,327 times in the 1950s and fell to 243 records in the 2000s. For men, names like Benedito, which had 54,451 records in the 1950s and dropped to 2,560 records in the 2000s, and Severino, which changed from 39,475 records in the 1950s to 1,373 in the 2000s, fell into disuse.. 

On the other hand, names like Caua, Rian, Enzo, Kailane and Sophia became popular in the 2000s. In relation to the previous decade, 81,184 more persons were registered as Caua; 69,347 more persons as Rian; 41,968 more persons as Enzo; 22,420 as Kailane and 19,226 as Sophia.

The behavior of the names of famous persons and characters that marked some periods should be noticed. For example, the name Dara, character in a soap opera in the 1990s, increased 4,592% in that decade. In the 2000s, the name Caua increased 3,924%, probably influenced by a famous actor. Among the sportsmen, the name Romario exploded in the 1980s, when it increased 402%, having also increased 278% in the 1990s. Ayrton was largely used in the 1990s, increasing 269% in that period. Zico had its heyday in the 1980s, when it named 300 persons. The name Pele showed 35 records in the 1960s, appearing also in the 1970s and 1980s.

This project only showed the names that appeared 20 times or more in the whole country. At least 15 equal names were required for the Federation Units and, for the municipalities, at least 10 names. Therefore, the total number for Brazil for some names may not be equal to the sum of the Federation Units, as the total number for the Federation Units for some names may not be equal to the sum of their municipalities.