Last year, the Nordic country of Finland welcomed 43,720 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies?
Well, it depends — Finland publishes three sets of baby name rankings: names used by Finnish speakers (84.1% of the population), names used by Swedish speakers (5.1%), and names used by speakers of any other language (such as Russian, Arabic, or Sami).
Finnish speakers
The most popular baby names among Finnish-speakers in Finland last year were Olivia and Oliver.
Here are the top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names:
Girl names (Finnish speakers)
- Olivia, 249 baby girls
- Aino, 231
- Linnea, 230
- Sofia, 227
- Isla, 219 (tie)
- Ellen, 219 (tie)
- Lilja, 218
- Eevi, 204
- Aava, 202 (tie)
- Helmi, 202 (tie)
- Viola, 193
- Hilla, 191
- Aada, 185
- Venla, 182
- Ella, 167
- Emma, 159
- Elli, 156
- Pihla, 151
- Emilia, 138
- Seela, 137
- Enni, 132
- Kerttu, 130
- Livia, 129
- Matilda, 128
- Alma, 121
- Elsi, 119
- Aurora, 116
- Hilda, 115 (tie)
- Elsa, 115 (tie)
- Minea, 114
- Ilona, 112
- Hilma, 111
- Frida, 110
- Alva, 105
- Mette, 102
- Amanda, 100 (tie)
- Selma, 100 (tie)
- Alisa, 99
- Vivian, 98
- Bea, 95
- Oona, 92
- Lumi, 90
- Nella, 88 (tie)
- Amelia, 88 (tie)
- Vilma, 86 (3-way tie)
- Alina, 86 (3-way tie)
- Ronja, 86 (3-way tie)
- Luna, 85
- Elea, 83 (tie)
- Lotta, 83 (tie)
Boy names (Finnish speakers)
- Oliver, 337 baby boys
- Eino, 303
- Väinö, 292
- Leo, 285
- Elias, 277
- Onni, 259
- Toivo, 225
- Oiva, 219
- Emil, 209 (tie)
- Vilho, 209 (tie)
- Hugo, 203 (tie)
- Aatos, 203 (tie) – means “thought” in Finnish
- Eeli, 202
- Leevi, 190
- Eemil, 185
- Noel, 184
- Alvar, 176
- Nooa, 173
- Aarni, 142
- Daniel, 139
- Edvin, 138
- Otso, 133 – means “bear” in Finnish
- Lenni, 131
- Joel, 130
- Leon, 129
- Milo, 128 (tie)
- Luka, 128 (tie)
- Viljami, 126
- Anton, 125
- Aaron, 122 (4-way tie)
- Max, 122 (4-way tie)
- Lukas, 122 (4-way tie)
- Eemi, 122 (4-way tie)
- Eelis, 120
- Mikael, 118
- Julius, 116
- Kasper, 112
- Samuel, 111
- Urho, 109 (3-way tie)
- Aapo, 109 (3-way tie)
- Eetu, 109 (3-way tie)
- Matias, 108
- Jooa, 106
- Olavi, 105
- Niilo, 104 (tie)
- Luukas, 104 (tie)
- Eliel, 101
- Mauno, 100 (tie)
- Viljo, 100 (tie)
- Lucas, 99
Swedish speakers
The most popular baby names among Swedish-speakers in Finland last year were Olivia and Edvin.
Here are the top 5+ girl names and top 5 boy names:
Girl names (Swedish speakers) | Boy names (Swedish speakers) |
1. Olivia, 30 2. Saga, 28 3. Ellen, 26 4. Alva, 24 5. Ebba, 23 (tie) 6. Ines, 23 (tie) | 1. Edvin, 33 2. Emil, 29 3. Oliver, 25 4. Felix, 24 5. Leon, 23 |
Other languages
The most popular baby names among the speakers of other languages in Finland last year were Sofia and Muhammad.
Here are the top 5 girl names and top 5 boy names:
Girl names (other languages) | Boy names (other languages) |
1. Sofia, 48 2. Emilia, 29 3. Olivia, 28 4. Emma, 23 5. Milana, 22 | 1. Muhammad, 48 2. Elias, 41 3. Daniel, 36 4. Mark, 35 5. Adam, 32 |
Finally, here are Finland’s 2023 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
- Statistics Finland: Births, Population and Society
- Behind the Name
Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)