Has Superman retired in Spain?

The latest registry figures for Spanish residents have thrown up a few surprises.

The list of official residents for 2013 in Spain, published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics, includes such famous – and sometimes fictional – personages as Superman and Maradona.

However, tradition hasn’t gone completely out of the window. Traditional Spanish names proved the most popular, with Antonio numbering (739,523 and José (672,826) topping the charts for men.

For girls the list was headed by María Carmen (674,181) and María (651,441).

The longest first name – Transfiguración – is shared by 122 women while 221 are named the triple-barrelled María Immaculada Concepción.

However, there are quite a few interesting – and less traditional – names on the list. Barcelona-resident and popular Colombian singer Shakira has 43 baby girls named after her in her resident city, and shares her name with 604 Spaniards in total.

There were also 40 babies named after the FC Barcelona Brazilian footballer Neymar and more than 20 named after his Argentinean teammate, Messi.

Spain is also home to Kevin Kostner, Pamela Anderson, Lady Di, Maradona and Supermán, with the British princesses and American comic book superheroes being less in number on the list.