Baby Name: Samuel

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)

1. Olivia, 249 baby girls
2. Aino, 231
3. Linnea, 230
4. Sofia, 227
5. Isla, 219 (tie)
6. Ellen, 219 (tie)
7. Lilja, 218
8. Eevi, 204
9. Aava, 202 (tie)
10. Helmi, 202 (tie)
11. Viola, 193
12. Hilla, 191
13. Aada, 185
14. Venla, 182
15. Ella, 167
16. Emma, 159
17. Elli, 156
18. Pihla, 151
19. Emilia, 138
20. Seela, 137
21. Enni, 132
22. Kerttu, 130
23. Livia, 129
24. Matilda, 128
25. Alma, 121
26. Elsi, 119
27. Aurora, 116
28. Hilda, 115 (tie)
29. Elsa, 115 (tie)
30. Minea, 114
31. Ilona, 112
32. Hilma, 111
33. Frida, 110
34. Alva, 105
35. Mette, 102
36. Amanda, 100 (tie)
37. Selma, 100 (tie)
38. Alisa, 99
39. Vivian, 98
40. Bea, 95
41. Oona, 92
42. Lumi, 90
43. Nella, 88 (tie)
44. Amelia, 88 (tie)
45. Vilma, 86 (3-way tie)
46. Alina, 86 (3-way tie)
47. Ronja, 86 (3-way tie)
48. Luna, 85
49. Elea, 83 (tie)
50. Lotta, 83 (tie)

Boy names (Finnish speakers)

1. Oliver, 337 baby boys
2. Eino, 303
3. Väinö, 292
4. Leo, 285
5. Elias, 277
6. Onni, 259
7. Toivo, 225
8. Oiva, 219
9. Emil, 209 (tie)
10. Vilho, 209 (tie)
11. Hugo, 203 (tie)
12. Aatos, 203 (tie) – means “thought” in Finnish
13. Eeli, 202
14. Leevi, 190
15. Eemil, 185
16. Noel, 184
17. Alvar, 176
18. Nooa, 173
19. Aarni, 142
20. Daniel, 139
21. Edvin, 138
22. Otso, 133 – means “bear” in Finnish
23. Lenni, 131
24. Joel, 130
25. Leon, 129
26. Milo, 128 (tie)
27. Luka, 128 (tie)
28. Viljami, 126
29. Anton, 125
30. Aaron, 122 (4-way tie)
31. Max, 122 (4-way tie)
32. Lukas, 122 (4-way tie)
33. Eemi, 122 (4-way tie)
34. Eelis, 120
35. Mikael, 118
36. Julius, 116
37. Kasper, 112
38. Samuel, 111
39. Urho, 109 (3-way tie)
40. Aapo, 109 (3-way tie)
41. Eetu, 109 (3-way tie)
42. Matias, 108
43. Jooa, 106
44. Olavi, 105
45. Niilo, 104 (tie)
46. Luukas, 104 (tie)
47. Eliel, 101
48. Mauno, 100 (tie)
49. Viljo, 100 (tie)
50. 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:

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:

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)