How popular is the baby name Elsa in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Elsa.

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Popularity of the baby name Elsa


Posts that mention the name Elsa

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2020

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

According to Statistics Sweden, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Alice and Noah.

Here are Sweden’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Alice, 794 baby girls
  2. Maja, 670
  3. Elsa, 643
  4. Astrid, 607 (tie)
  5. Wilma, 607 (tie)
  6. Freja, 596
  7. Olivia, 587
  8. Selma, 578
  9. Alma, 577
  10. Ella, 575

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 758 baby boys
  2. William, 742
  3. Hugo, 712
  4. Lucas, 709
  5. Liam, 698
  6. Oscar, 671
  7. Oliver, 649
  8. Matteo, 646
  9. Elias, 642
  10. Adam, 602

In the girls’ top 10, Elsa, Freja and Selma replaced Lilly, Vera and Ebba.

The boys’ top 10 includes the same 10 names, but in a different order.

The names in Sweden’s top 100 that rose the fastest from 2019 to 2020 were Bonnie and Björn. The names that fell the fastest were Bianca and Wilmer.

In 2019, the top names were Alice and Lucas.

Source: Name Statistics – SCB

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

Where did the baby name Viveca come from in 1948?

Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors (1920-1995)
Viveca Lindfors

The name Viveca may bring to mind American actress Vivica Fox, but she wasn’t the woman who put this name it on the map way back in in 1948:

  • 1950: 15 baby girls named Viveca
  • 1949: 13 baby girls named Viveca
  • 1948: 7 baby girls named Viveca [debut]
  • 1947: unlisted
  • 1946: unlisted

The influence here was Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors — born Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors in Uppsala in 1920.

She’d been a film star in Europe since the early ’40s, but didn’t start appearing in movies in the U.S. until 1948.

One of her earliest movies for American audiences was Adventures of Don Juan (1948), in which she played Queen Margaret, the married love interest of Don Juan (played by Errol Flynn).

Viveca (and her name) were featured on the front cover of Life magazine in February of 1949. The blurb describing the cover began:

Viveca (pronounced Viv’eca) Lindfors is 28 years old, has brown hair and blue eyes, loves snow and hates hats, and has a very independent personality.

Her name can be traced back to the German name Wiebke [pronounced VEEB-kuh], the feminine form of Wiebe [VEE-buh]. They’re ultimately based upon the Germanic element wig, meaning “war.”

The spelling Vivica emerged in the data a few years later, and (as you’d expect) saw a big jump in usage in the ’90s, thanks to Vivica Fox.

What are your thoughts on the name Viveca? Which spelling do you prefer?

Sources:

Popular baby names in the Faroe Islands, 2019

Flag of the Faroe Islands
Flag of the Faroe Islands

According to Statistics Faroe Islands, the most popular baby names last year in the Faroe Islands — the North Atlantic archipelago that belongs to Denmark — were Anna and Jónas.

Here are the Faroe Islands’ top 10+ girl names and top 10+ boy names of 2019:

Girl names

  1. Anna, 9 baby girls
  2. Eva, 7 (two-way tie)
  3. Lea, 7 (two-way tie)
  4. Maria, 6 (three-way tie)
  5. Mia, 6 (three-way tie)
  6. Vón, 6 (three-way tie)
    • Based on an Old Norse word meaning “hope.”
  7. Alda, 5 (three-way tie)
  8. Elsa, 5 (three-way tie)
  9. Olivia, 5 (three-way tie)
  10. Emma, 4 (three-way tie)
  11. Liva, 4 (three-way tie)
  12. Rósa, 4 (three-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Jónas, 9 baby boys
  2. Óðin, 8
  3. Benjamin, 6 (three-way tie)
  4. Magnus, 6 (three-way tie)
  5. Rókur, 6 (three-way tie)
    • Based on an Old Norse name meaning “crow, rook.”
  6. Adrian, 5 (four-way tie)
  7. Baldur, 5 (four-way tie)
  8. Boas, 5 (four-way tie)
  9. Jósef, 5 (four-way tie)
  10. Ari, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  11. Bragi, 4 (eleven-way tie)
    • Based on an Old Norse word meaning “the best, foremost” or “poetry.” Also the Norse god of poetry.
  12. Dávid, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  13. Hugin, 4 (eleven-way tie)
    • Based on an Old Norse word meaning “mind, spirit, thought.”
  14. Jákup, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  15. Jóhan, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  16. Jón, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  17. Markus, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  18. Milan, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  19. Nóa, 4 (eleven-way tie)
  20. Villiam, 4 (eleven-way tie)

Some of the other baby names bestowed in the Faroe Islands in 2019 include…

  • Brima (f) “surf, surge” in Old Norse
  • Døgg (f) “dew”
  • Glóa (f) “to glow, to shine, to glitter”
  • Gylta (f) “young sow”
  • Gylvi (m) “roaring sea, heavy sea”
  • Hjalti (m) “man from Hjaltland“
  • Tjálvi (m) “one who encompasses, keeps together”
  • Treysti (m) “trusty”
  • Ýr (f) “yew tree, bow”

P.S. Denmark has a total of two overseas territories: the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

Sources: Statistics Faroe Islands (via Reddit), Faroe Islands – Wikipedia, Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Faroe Islands (public domain)

Pop culture baby name game results, 2019

Which of the names in the 2019 pop culture baby name game saw increases in usage last year? And which did not? All the results are below!

Here are the names that increased in usage from 2018 to 2019:

  • Alita (f) increased by 554%.
  • Banks (f) increased by 267%, and increased as a boy name as well. Suggested by alex.
  • Posie (f) increased by 143%. Suggested by alex.
  • Psalm (m) increased by 129%, but decreased as a girl name.
  • Maelyn (f) increased by 91%. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Navy (f) increased by 85%, and increased as a boy name as well. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Archie (m) increased by 82%, and re-emerged as a girl name in the data as well.
  • Asante (m) increased by 80%, and increased as a girl name as well. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Hart (m) increased by 73%, but decreased as a girl name. Suggested by alex.
  • Ciro (m) increased by 70%. Suggested by alex.
  • Alaiya (f) increased by 66%. Suggested by alex.
  • Myracle (f) increased by 51%. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Boomer (m) increased by 45%. Suggested by Aya.
  • Billie (f) increased by 42%, and increased as a boy name as well.
  • Valentine (m) increased by 38%, and increased as a girl name as well. Suggested by alex.
  • Kamala (f) increased by 30%.
  • Birdie (f) increased by 29%. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Rosalia (f) increased by 28%. Suggested by alex.
  • Myles (m) increased by 26%, and increased as a girl name as well. Suggested by alex.
  • Rue (f) increased by 24%. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Rami (m) increased by 24%, and increased as a girl name as well. Suggested by Elisabeth.
    • Incidentally, the usage of Malek also increased. :)
  • Jed (m) increased by 23%. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Hayes (m) increased by 19%, but decreased as a girl name. Suggested by alex.
  • Ace (m) increased by 16%, and increased as a girl name as well. Suggested by alex.
  • Elsa (f) increased by 16%. Suggested by elbowin.
  • Maverick (m) increased by 14%, and increased as a girl name as well. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Brixton (m) increased by 14%, but decreased as a girl name.
  • Lucca (m) increased by 13%, but decreased as a girl name. Suggested by alex.
  • Phoebe (f) increased by 11%. Suggested by Elisabeth.
  • Valentino (m) increased by 8%. Suggested by alex.
  • Dorian (m) increased by 3%, but decreased as a girl name.
  • Gloria (f) increased by 3%.
  • Roux (f) increased by 3%, but decreased as a boy name. Suggested by alex.
  • Adeya debuted with 22 baby girls.
  • Marsai was a double-debut: 10 baby girls, 5 baby boys.
  • Kaavia debuted with 15 baby girls. Suggested by alex.
  • Eryss re-emerged in the data with 5 baby girls. Suggested by alex.
  • Embrii debuted with 5 baby girls. Suggested by alex.

Here are the names that did not increase in usage from 2018 to 2019:

Abril, Aeko, Arendelle, Asahd, Avani, Catori, Charli, Deckard, Donna, Eilish, Garima, Gil, Gilmher, Gima, Greedy, Greta, Huckleberry, Idina, Iduna, Kelleth, Lia, Lisann, Lizzo, Luce, Maleficent, Malone, Marli, Megan, Miren, Nadia, Nipsey, Post, Riyaz, Sameeksha, Sanni, Sansa, Saybie, Shaed, Shahadi, Sulwe, Taeyang, Wick

(These names saw equal usage, less usage, or weren’t in the data at all.)

Here are the late bloomers (i.e., names that were part of the 2018 game, but didn’t rise/debut until 2019):

  • Kulture double-debuted with 17 baby girls and 5 baby boys.
  • Chevel debuted with 17 baby girls.
  • Zaxai debuted with 14 baby boys.
  • Qira debuted with 13 baby girls.
  • Story increased by 40 baby girls (but fell for boys).
  • Dash increased by 25 baby boys (but fell for girls).
  • Akash increased by 14 baby boys.
  • Storm increased by 10 baby girls (but fell for boys).
  • Kiki increased by 4 baby girls.

Finally, two more things…

  • While the name Nipsey didn’t debut in 2019, Nipsey Hussle’s legal first name, Ermias, was the fastest-rising boy name of 2019 (in terms of relative increase).
  • Dua, one of the rising names in last year’s game, stayed perfectly level this time around — exactly 72 baby girls in both ’18 and ’19. (In the UK, on the other hand, Dua’s usage increased quite a bit.)

What are your thoughts on the results this year? Did anything surprise you?

[The usual disclaimer: Some of the names above were already moving in the direction indicated. Others were influenced by more than a single pop culture person/event. In each case, I leave it up to you to judge the degree/nature of pop culture influence.]