Ainhoa is the name of a virgen from that area of Gipuzkua. Here is a web page that has lots of names from different languages and what they signify.

Baby names web page

As far as guys names go...Iv only been here in Granada for a little over 2 months- but I have 3 friends named Miguel Angel!! 3!!!!
Kelly

He, he, he! Booklady, Paloma is only a fairly common name in Madrid, since 'La Virgen de la Paloma' is one of the two patron saints of this city (the other one is the very "arabic-ish" Almudena, also a female name); outside of Madrid is pretty unusual, when I was growing up in Zaragoza, I attended a school with 1800 students and there were only two other Palomas besides me (Of course there were countless girls named Pilar!!!) In the Basque Country, there are some girls named Usue (not 100% sure about the spelling), that's paloma (dove) in Basque; and it would be Coloma (or Colomba) in 'Catalán'.

The same names aren't the most popular ones all the time, some become very "in" sometimes....when I was little I had lots of little friends called Eva and Marta, Beatriz, Sandra (Alejandra) or Susana....more recently, there seem to be a good number of Andreas, Ineses, Carlotas and Lucías being born, as for boys, I hear Daniel and Javier a lot these days, and Manuel, Jose, Juan, Carlos, Pablo, Luis, Francisco or Nacho (Ignacio) are of course all-time favourites.

Now, the name Maria comes usually as a "nombre compuesto' (compound name¿?), like Maria Isabel (Maribel), Maria José, Maria del Carmen (Maricarmen or Mamen),...also José (also known as Pepe or Pepito) becomes very often: José Miguel, José Luis, José Maria (Aznar ).

P.S.: Thanks Eduardo for your comments! (BTW, I guess we call pigeons "pichones').
Martine, Maria de la Concepción is indeed a quite common name! (though we call them Conchas or Conchitas, and please don't ask me the meaning of concha for Argentinians! :o ), but not only that, Inmaculada (immaculate) is also very common!!! Also, I believe Peio is Basque for Pedro (Peter).

...And don't ask me the meaning of peter for some English speakers.

A marriage of a Concha and a Peter would seem a match made in slang heaven.

I love the names Julia, Marisol, and Paloma. I met a girl named Mon[t?]se (for Mon[t?]serrat?) in Salamanca, and had a close friend Isabel (she used the nickname "Isa."). I dated an Arturo and an Antonio, and had a friend with the nickname Nacho (for Ignacio). I like Javi (Javier) also.

I dated Antonio too! He was a tallish shortish guy with blondish brownish hair about yea big, no?

I like Iñaki, but my BASQUE wife doesn't! Traidora...

Peio is also spelled Peyo, and is fairly common among Navarros and French Basques. We knew a few Basque fellows named Patxi, too. That was always a nice nickname. I like Aitor, Lorea (girl) and Maite, which means Love.

Here's one you probably don't want: Epigmenio...yes, Epigmenio!

Calibasco,

"I dated Antonio too! He was a tallish shortish guy with blondish brownish hair about yea big, no?"

Your "friend" Antonio sounds a lot like Sergio from Rio.


Saludos
Shawn.

The two most common names in Madrid in 1996, the year my son was born so I paid attention, were:

Alvaro: for boys
Marta: for girls

It must be true as he has 5 Alvaros in his class of 25 kids, and 4 Danis (Daniel), double names (José Antonio, etc. are now out...there are none), no Jesús either.

Pim writes: Not! Madrid's one and only Patron Saint: San Isidro (Isadore the Worker) who's Feast day is celebrated each year on 15 May.

My wife's first cousin baptized 'Soledad' goes by 'Paloma.' The first I knew about that was when we were buying an airline ticket for her using my F/F Miles - on her (Spain) Passport she is Soledad! el Catedral de la Almudena adjacent to the Palacio Réal may have something to do with that. But a Medico friend who's daughters are Almudena and Aranzasu (like Aranxa Sanchez) told me both were Euskadi names.

Marisa: Another first cousin of my wife's is Maria Luisa (as was her mother). She goes by 'Mari Li' and we used to call her mother 'Tia Li.'

Eddie,

Madrid does have two patron saints: San Isidro, and Almudena. They celebrate her day on November 9th.

Almudena facts

As for the origin of the name, I don't know for sure, but most names and words that begin with "al" are indeed of arabic influence.

Cheers