As it was in the days of Noah

MOST POPULAR NAMES: URI AND NOA
By Hillel Fendel

Uri, Noam, Itai, Ido and David were the most popular given boy's names
in 2005, while Noa, Shira, Agam, Maya and Tamar topped the charts for
girls.

The next most popular girl's names last year were Roni, Yael, Adi,
Sarah, Yovel, Hila and Michal. The next most popular boy's names last
year were Ro'i, Amit, Yosef, Moshe and Yehonatan. Daniel, the most
popular boy's name two years ago, dropped last year to 13th place.

Three percent of the Jewish girls who were born in 2005 were given the
name Noa, while 2.1% of the boys were named Uri.

It has become increasingly popular to "share" names between boys and
girls. Among the names given to both genders are Noam, Lior, Or,
Shachar, Tal, Osher, and more.

Other numbers published this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics
in honor of the upcoming International Children's Day include:
* One-third of Israel's population in 2005 was children under age 17 -
a total of 2,326,400.
* The highest proportion of children - 63% - lives in the
hareidi-religious Yesha town of Beitar Illit. Some Bedouin villages
have similar numbers.
* 51.4% of the babies born last year were boys.
* 92% of children live with both their parents.
* Just over 69% of the children are Jewish, while just under 24% are
Moslems.
* 143,900 babies were born, including 70% Jews and 23.7% Moslems -
thus that the proportion of Jewish births increased slightly.

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11.
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