How popular is the baby name Olavi in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Olavi.

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Popularity of the baby name Olavi


Posts that mention the name Olavi

Popular baby names in Finland, 2022

Flag of Finland
Flag of Finland

The sauna-loving country of Finland is located in Northern Europe and shares a border with three other countries: Sweden, Norway, and Russia.

Most of the people in Finland speak Finnish (85.9%), but the rest of the population speaks Swedish (5.2%), Sami (0.04%), or some other language (8.9%) such as Russian, Estonian, or Arabic.

Last year, Finland welcomed 46,809 babies. At the time the country released its baby name data (in mid-April), 46,486 of these babies — 22,742 girls and 23,744 boys — had been named.

What were the most popular names overall? Olivia and Leo.

Finland’s baby name data is broken down by language group, so let’s kick things off with the Finnish speakers…

Finnish speakers

Of the 37,365 (named) babies born to Finnish speakers in Finland last year, 18,261 were girls and 19,104 were boys. Here are the top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 276 baby girls
  2. Aino, 256
  3. Aada, 248
  4. Lilja, 238
  5. Eevi, 235
  6. Isla, 232
  7. Helmi, 227
  8. Venla, 219
  9. Sofia, 212
  10. Ellen, 210
  11. Aava, 209
  12. Hilla, 200
  13. Emma, 199
  14. Linnea, 194
  15. Pihla, 193
  16. Viola, 191 (tie)
  17. Kerttu, 191 (tie)
  18. Ella, 188
  19. Emilia, 156 (tie)
  20. Elli, 156 (tie)
  21. Enni, 148
  22. Seela, 136
  23. Hilma, 134 (tie)
  24. Hilda, 134 (tie)
  25. Elsa, 133
  26. Livia, 132
  27. Alisa, 131
  28. Alma, 128
  29. Oona, 124
  30. Ilona, 121
  31. Mila, 119
  32. Alina, 118
  33. Frida, 115
  34. Elsi, 114
  35. Matilda, 113
  36. Minea, 111
  37. Vilma, 108
  38. Mette, 105
  39. Aurora, 102
  40. Hertta, 101 (tie)
  41. Lumi, 101 (tie)
  42. Amanda, 100 (tie)
  43. Selma, 100 (tie)
  44. Viivi, 98
  45. Nella, 95
  46. Bea, 93
  47. Saimi, 89 (tie)
  48. Vivian, 89 (tie)
  49. Siiri, 87
  50. Stella, 86

Boy Names

  1. Leo, 376 baby boys
  2. Väinö, 364
  3. Eino, 349
  4. Oliver, 342
  5. Elias, 316
  6. Onni, 313
  7. Emil, 239
  8. Eeli, 225
  9. Toivo, 216
  10. Leevi, 210
  11. Noel, 199
  12. Hugo, 186
  13. Joel, 185
  14. Aatos, 184 (tie)
  15. Vilho, 184 (tie)
  16. Alvar, 181
  17. Eemil, 172
  18. Oiva, 169
  19. Otso, 159
  20. Nooa, 156
  21. Mikael, 154
  22. Aarni, 153 (tie)
  23. Viljami, 153 (tie)
  24. Niilo, 149
  25. Lenni, 148
  26. Luka, 144
  27. Daniel, 139
  28. Benjamin, 137
  29. Anton, 135
  30. Kasper, 132
  31. Edvin, 129
  32. Aaron, 128
  33. Viljo, 126
  34. Jooa, 121
  35. Julius, 120 (tie)
  36. Eetu, 120 (tie)
  37. Olavi, 119
  38. Aapo, 118
  39. Milo, 115
  40. Eelis, 114
  41. Lukas, 113
  42. Eemi, 112
  43. Leon, 111
  44. Matias, 105
  45. Urho, 104
  46. Rasmus, 101 (tie)
  47. Max, 101 (tie)
  48. Samuel, 99 (tie)
  49. Luukas, 99 (tie)
  50. Iivo, 97

Swedish speakers

Of the 3,157 (named) babies born to Swedish speakers in Finland last year, 1,552 were girls and 1,605 were boys. Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Saga, 29
2. Ellen, 23
3. Alva, 20
4. Emma, 19
5. Stella, 17
6. Edith, 16 (4-way tie)
7. Olivia, 16 (4-way tie)
8. Astrid, 16 (4-way tie)
9. Alma, 16 (4-way tie)
10. Elsa, 15
1. Oliver, 33
2. William, 28
3. Liam, 23
4. Anton, 21 (tie)
5. Emil, 21 (tie)
6. Edvin, 20 (tie)
7. Max, 20 (tie)
8. Hugo, 19 (tie)
9. Benjamin, 19 (tie)
10. Felix/Leon, 18 each (tie)

Other languages

Of the 5,964 (named) babies born in Finland last year to parents who speak something other than Finnish or Swedish, 2,929 were girls and 3,035 were boys. Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Sofia, 36
2. Maria, 26
3. Olivia, 22
4. Eva, 21
5. Emilia, 19
6. Mia, 18
7. Aurora, 17
8. Alisa, 16
9. Emma, 15
10. Aisha/Anna/Mira/Sara, 14 each (4-way tie)
1. Adam, 46
2. Elias, 30 (tie)
3. Muhammad, 30 (tie)
4. Mark, 29
5. Leo 28
6. Daniel, 25
7. Ali, 22
8. Mohamed, 18 (tie)
9. Noah, 18 (tie)
10. Liam/Martin/Oliver, 16 each (3-way tie)

Finally, here are Finland’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Most popular children’s names – Digital and Population Data Services Agency, Olivia and Leo are still the most popular children’s names in Finland, Population and Society – Statistics Finland

Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)

The three Olavis

olavi, running, finland, name
The three record-breaking Olavis (July 11, 1957)

While reading about the 1,500-metre run for yesterday’s post on Kipchoge Keino, I discovered an interesting name-related fact: In the summer of 1957, three Finnish runners named Olavi (pronounced OH-lah-vee) — all running the same 1,500m race in Turku — all broke the 1,500m world record.

The record had been 3 minutes and 40.6 seconds, set by a Hungarian runner (named István) in 1956.

The photo-finish winner of the Finnish race was Olavi Salsola, with a time of 3:40.2. In second was Olavi Salonen, who technically finished with the same time. In third was Olavi Vuorisalo, who (at 3:40.3) was just a tenth of a second behind the first two Olavis.

The new record didn’t last long, though, because the very next day a Czechoslovakian runner (named Stanislav) clocked in at 3:38.1.

The Finnish name Olavi, which popped up in the U.S. data a handful of times in the 1910s and 1920s, is a form of Olaf, which evolved from an Old Norse name comprised of the elements anu, meaning “ancestor,” and leifr, meaning “descendant.”

Do you like the name Olavi? (Do you think it might be a good substitute for the trendy name Oliver?)

Sources: Three Finnish Runners All Break World Record for 1,500 Meters at Turku, 1500 metres world record progression – Wikipedia, Olaf – Behind the Name