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
- Olivia, 276 baby girls
- Aino, 256
- Aada, 248
- Lilja, 238
- Eevi, 235
- Isla, 232
- Helmi, 227
- Venla, 219
- Sofia, 212
- Ellen, 210
- Aava, 209
- Hilla, 200
- Emma, 199
- Linnea, 194
- Pihla, 193
- Viola, 191 (tie)
- Kerttu, 191 (tie)
- Ella, 188
- Emilia, 156 (tie)
- Elli, 156 (tie)
- Enni, 148
- Seela, 136
- Hilma, 134 (tie)
- Hilda, 134 (tie)
- Elsa, 133
- Livia, 132
- Alisa, 131
- Alma, 128
- Oona, 124
- Ilona, 121
- Mila, 119
- Alina, 118
- Frida, 115
- Elsi, 114
- Matilda, 113
- Minea, 111
- Vilma, 108
- Mette, 105
- Aurora, 102
- Hertta, 101 (tie)
- Lumi, 101 (tie)
- Amanda, 100 (tie)
- Selma, 100 (tie)
- Viivi, 98
- Nella, 95
- Bea, 93
- Saimi, 89 (tie)
- Vivian, 89 (tie)
- Siiri, 87
- Stella, 86
Boy Names
- Leo, 376 baby boys
- Väinö, 364
- Eino, 349
- Oliver, 342
- Elias, 316
- Onni, 313
- Emil, 239
- Eeli, 225
- Toivo, 216
- Leevi, 210
- Noel, 199
- Hugo, 186
- Joel, 185
- Aatos, 184 (tie)
- Vilho, 184 (tie)
- Alvar, 181
- Eemil, 172
- Oiva, 169
- Otso, 159
- Nooa, 156
- Mikael, 154
- Aarni, 153 (tie)
- Viljami, 153 (tie)
- Niilo, 149
- Lenni, 148
- Luka, 144
- Daniel, 139
- Benjamin, 137
- Anton, 135
- Kasper, 132
- Edvin, 129
- Aaron, 128
- Viljo, 126
- Jooa, 121
- Julius, 120 (tie)
- Eetu, 120 (tie)
- Olavi, 119
- Aapo, 118
- Milo, 115
- Eelis, 114
- Lukas, 113
- Eemi, 112
- Leon, 111
- Matias, 105
- Urho, 104
- Rasmus, 101 (tie)
- Max, 101 (tie)
- Samuel, 99 (tie)
- Luukas, 99 (tie)
- 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 Names | Boy 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 Names | Boy 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)