This year marks the 180th anniversary of the birth of the great Kazakh poet and educator Abai Kunanbaiuly. In honor of the occasion, the National Bureau of Statistics has shared some interesting data related to his name, reports Adyrna.
According to official figures, there are 18,763 people named Abai living in Kazakhstan. The highest numbers are found in Astana (2,089 people), Turkistan Region (2,018), and Almaty (1,719).
The oldest person named Abai was born in 1932, while the name is most commonly found among those aged 30 to 34, totaling 3,228 individuals. In the first half of this year alone, 157 newborns were given the name Abai.
Interestingly, the name has also been given to girls—10 women in Kazakhstan are officially registered with the name Abai.
As for the poet’s given name Ibrahim (also spelled Ibragim or Ibrakhim), 35,404 people in the country bear that name.
In honor of the great poet, one region, one city, three districts, and 26 villages in Kazakhstan have been named after Abai.
