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The newly elected federal councilor Beat Jans (59) is beaming from ear to ear. No wonder his name is Beat, which comes from the Latin word ‘beatus’ and means ‘the happy’ in German.
Although the first name has Latin roots, it is hardly found in Latin-speaking Switzerland: of the 20,578 Beats in Switzerland (most recent figures from December 31 to 22), 19,994 live in German-speaking Switzerland.
A typical German-Swiss first name: The best-known namesakes in Switzerland are the pediatrician and musician Beat Richner (1947–2018), the former cyclist Beat Breu (66), the actor Beat Schlatter (62) and the ex-ski racer Versla Feuz (36 ).
In Switzerland, 831 Beats are as old as Jans
Around the time that the newly elected federal councilor Jans was born, the first name was the most popular. “The peak was reached in 1962,” says Christoph Freymond of the Federal Statistical Office. “Today there are 914 Beats from this year.”
For people born in 1962, this means 10th place in the list of most common given names. Because fewer and fewer boys have been baptized with Beat since then, Beat has fallen to 24th place among male given names over the years.
Jans is currently one of 831 living Beats born in 1964 (most recent figures as of 12/31/22). But only he is the lucky federal councilor – only the third resident of Basel, but the first Beat.
Source:Blick
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