Last year, from January to November, the Netherlands welcomed 165,594 babies — 80,604 girls and 84,990 boys.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.
Here are the Netherlands’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:
Girl names
- Emma, 657 baby girls
- Olivia, 634
- Nora, 614
- Julia, 607
- Sophie, 581
- Mila, 579
- Noor, 547
- Yara, 539
- Sara, 492
- Zoë, 487
- Tess, 459
- Elin, 457
- Luna, 450
- Maeve, 447 (tie)
- Milou, 447 (tie)
- Nina, 443
- Saar, 425 – short form of Sarah
- Evi, 418
- Eva, 407
- Mia, 403
- Lotte, 400
- Liv, 382
- Maud, 378
- Sofia, 373
- Anna, 369
- Emily, 368
- Ella, 354
- Lauren, 348
- Lina, 347
- Lynn, 341
- Sophia, 333
- Sofie, 332
- Noa, 319
- Julie, 316
- Lily, 313
- Fleur, 311
- Loïs, 310
- Hailey, 308
- Lieke, 306 – diminutive form of several names (such as Angelique)
- Livia, 302
- Hannah, 298
- Fenna, 288 – feminine form of Fen, a Frisian short form of Ferdinand
- Nova, 287
- Noé, 284 (tie)
- Sarah, 284 (tie)
- Fien, 260 – short form of Josefien, the Dutch form of Josephine
- Jasmijn, 252
- Isa, 250 (3-way tie)
- Isabella, 250 (3-way tie)
- Romée, 250 (3-way tie) – French feminine form of Romeo
Boy names
- Noah, 922 baby boys
- Luca, 755
- Lucas, 730
- Liam, 660
- Sem, 618 – Dutch form of Shem
- Mees, 606 – short form of Bartholomeus, the Dutch form of Bartholomew
- Noud, 582 – short form of Arnoud, the Dutch form of Arnold
- Levi, 579
- James, 557
- Adam, 538
- Finn, 529
- Daan, 519
- Sam, 514
- Milan, 506
- Luuk, 473
- Guus, 468
- Zayn, 461
- Mats, 436
- Mason, 424
- Bram, 397
- Siem, 377 – short form of Simon
- Boaz, 373
- Oliver, 364
- Olivier, 355
- Benjamin, 353
- Gijs, 347 – short form of Gijsbert
- Floris, 334
- Jesse, 330
- Joep, 315
- Teun, 312 – short form of Antonius
- Otis, 311
- Jake, 310 (3-way tie)
- Lio, 310 (3-way tie)
- Morris, 310 (3-way tie)
- Moos, 303 – short form of Mozes, the Dutch form of Moses
- Jens, 300
- Ties, 293 – diminutive form of several names (such as Matthijs and Diederik)
- Elias, 286
- Abel, 284
- Owen, 280
- Thomas, 275
- Ted, 272
- Max, 268
- David, 263 (tie)
- Julian, 263 (tie)
- Jan, 262
- Mohammed, 255
- Jurre, 252 (tie) – short form of Jurryt, the Frisian form of Gerard
- Tobias, 252 (tie)
- Kai, 246
The girls’ top 100 included Bo (53rd), Puck (58th), Feline (tied for 82nd), and Benthe (98th).
The boys’ top 100 included Melle (59th), Loek (63rd), Stijn (70th), and Wout (tied for 85th).
And what about gender-neutral names? According to the Dutch SVB, the top three were Charlie (given to 156 girls & 156 boys last year), Robin (68 girls & 64 boys), and Sammy (11 girls & 10 boys).
Finally, here are the Netherlands’ 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources: Kindernamen home | Kindernamen | SVB, Emma en Noah de populairste kindernamen van 2024, Behind the Name
Image: Adapted from Flag of the Netherlands (public domain)
Interestingly, Emma has been the most popular girls’ name for the past 25 years. I was born during a massive Emma-dip in the 1970’s :)
A few notes:
– Noor (nohr, not nour) is short for Nora
– Maeve > 100% influenced by Sx Education
– Evi (AY-vee) > combined with Evy and Evie probably the most popular girls’ name (after Sophie+Sofie, Sophia+Sofia and Sara+Sarah)
– Lotte (LOH-teh)
– Maud (pronounced as mowd, not mowed)
– Lauren > after Dutch tv presenter Lauren Verster
– Loïs > this one must make Americans LOL
– Lieke and Angelique aren’t really related. Lieke is very much its own name, although some may be named after grandma Cornelia.
– Fenna > heavily influenced by a character in a Dutch tv show called Moordvrouw
– Jasmijn (yahs-MINE)
– Romée > no one associates this name with Romeo; these girls’ moms are all inspired by Dutch fashion model and Victoria’s Secret Angel Romee Strijd
Thank you, Emma, for the extra information — particularly the influences/associations!