Popular baby names in Iceland, 2018

According to Registers Iceland, the most popular baby names in the country in 2018 were Embla and Aron.

Here are Iceland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:

Girl Names

1. Embla, 26 baby girls
2. Emilía, 24
3. Freyja, 23
4. Hekla, 23
5. Sara, 23
6. Lilja, 21
7. Hanna, 19
8. Alexandra, 18
9. Anna, 18
10. Katla, 18

Boy Names

1. Aron, 51 baby boys
2. Alexander, 37
3. Emil, 32
4. Kári, 31
5. Viktor, 31
6. Óliver, 28
7. Guðmundur, 27
8. Jökull, 26
9. Mikael, 25
10. Jón, 23

Many of these names have equivalent English forms, but several do not, such as…

• Embla – possibly based on the Old Norse word almr, meaning “elm.” Not to be confused with Engla.
• Hekla – based on the Old Norse word hekla, meaning “cloak.” Also the name of an active volcano.
• Katla – based on the Old Norse word ketill, meaning “(sacrificial) cauldron.”
• Kári – based on the Old Norse word kárr, meaning either “curly (hair)” or “obstinate.”
• Guðmundur – based on the Old Norse elements gud, meaning either “god” or “good,” and mund, meaning “protection.”
• Jökull – means “glacier, ice” in Icelandic.

I didn’t post 2017 rankings for Iceland, but in 2016 the top two names were Emilía and Alexander.

Sources: Aron and Hekla Most Popular Baby Names, Aron And Hekla Iceland’s Most Popular Names Of 2018, Nafngjafir 2018 (January), Nafngjafir – leiðrétting (March), Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iceland (public domain)