How popular is the baby name Emil 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 Emil.

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Popularity of the baby name Emil


Posts that mention the name Emil

What gave the baby name Mercedes a boost in 1989?

The character Mercedes Lane from the movie "License to Drive" (1988)
Mercedes Lane from “License to Drive“

The name Mercedes, which has featured in the U.S. baby name data since the very beginning, saw a steep rise in usage during the late 1980s and early 1990s:

  • 1992: 1,729 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 178th]
  • 1991: 1,798 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 164th]
  • 1990: 1,654 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 176th]
  • 1989: 1,219 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 224th]
  • 1988: 609 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 395th]
  • 1987: 427 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 501st]
  • 1986: 385 baby girls named Mercedes [rank: 530th]

What triggered the increase?

I think the answer is a combination of two different things.

The initial influence was the Pebbles song “Mercedes Boy” [vid], in which the singer repeatedly asks, “Do you wanna ride in my Mercedes, boy?” The song was released as a single in March of 1988 and ranked #2 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for two weeks in July.

Pebbles' single "Mercedes Boy" (1988)
Pebbles single

The second influence was a character from the teen comedy License to Drive, which came out in theaters in July of 1988. Mercedes Lane (played by Heather Graham) was the crush of main character Les Anderson (played by Corey Haim) — who wasn’t going to let the fact that he’d failed his driver’s exam stop him from taking Mercedes out on a date in his grandfather’s prized Cadillac.

The License to Drive soundtrack didn’t include “Mercedes Boy,” but viewers could hear more than a minute of the song during a scene in which Les was out driving with his father.

The name Mercedes means “mercies” in Spanish. It comes from Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, one of the many titles of the Virgin Mary.

The name came to be associated with cars in the first years of the 1900s. Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek ordered a racing car (built to his specifications) from German manufacturer Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1900, and he dubbed the car “Mercedes” in honor of his daughter Mercédès (b. 1889). The car became so successful that, in 1902, DMG began using “Mercedes” as the official trade name of its entire line of cars.

What are your thoughts on the name Mercedes?

Sources: Mercedes Boy – Wikipedia, Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 9 Jul. 1988, License to Drive – Wikipedia, Emil Jellinek – Wikipedia, SSA

Top image: Screenshot of License to Drive

Popular baby names in Finland, 2024

Flag of Finland
Flag of Finland

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:

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:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Karlsruhe and Pforzheim, 2024

Flag of Germany
Flag of Germany

The German cities of Karlsruhe and Pforzheim are located about 20 miles away from one another in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg.

What were the most popular baby names in each city last year?

Let’s look at the larger one first…

Karlsruhe

The city of Karlsruhe — whose name means “Karl’s repose” in German — welcomed approximately 4,600 babies last year. (Notably, more than half of these babies were born to parents who lived outside the city.)

Here are Karlsruhe’s top 10+ girl names and top 10+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 34 baby girls
  2. Mila, 33
  3. Lina, 26
  4. Ida, 23
  5. Ella, 22
  6. Malia, 21 (tie)
  7. Marie, 21 (tie)
  8. Leni, 18 (tie)
  9. Mia, 18 (tie)
  10. Anna, 17 (4-way tie)
  11. Lia, 17 (4-way tie)
  12. Lotte, 17 (4-way tie)
  13. Nora, 17 (4-way tie)
  14. Amelie, 16 (3-way tie)
  15. Lara, 16 (3-way tie)
  16. Mara, 16 (3-way tie)
  17. Sophie, 15

Boy names

  1. Levi, 29 baby boys (tie)
  2. Noah, 29 (tie)
  3. Elias, 28 (tie)
  4. Emil, 28 (tie)
  5. Paul, 27
  6. Liam, 25 (tie)
  7. Samuel, 25 (tie)
  8. Leon, 24 (tie)
  9. Milan, 24 (tie)
  10. Luca, 23
  11. Anton, 22 (tie)
  12. Ben, 22 (tie)
  13. Jakob, 21
  14. David, 20 (5-way tie)
  15. Finn, 20 (5-way tie)
  16. Jonathan, 20 (5-way tie)
  17. Leo, 20 (5-way tie)
  18. Theo, 20 (5-way tie)
  19. Emilio, 19

Pforzheim

The city of Pforzheim welcomed more than 2,700 babies last year. (As of December 19, the total count was 2,731.)

Here are Pforzheim’s projected top 3 girl names and top 3 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Lina, 20 baby girls
  2. Sophia, 16
    • The spelling “Sofia” was given to another 9 baby girls.
  3. Emilia, 14

Boy names

  1. Leon, 23 baby boys (tie)
  2. Liam, 23 (tie)
  3. Elias, 18

I’ve never posted rankings for either Karlsruhe or Pforzheim before, but here are the most recent (albeit unofficial) rankings for Germany itself.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Germany (public domain)

Top baby names in Germany, 2023

Flag of Germany
Flag of Germany

Last year, the Central European country of Germany welcomed 692,989 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies?

We don’t know for sure, because Germany doesn’t release official baby name rankings. But two unofficial sets of rankings — one from the Society for the German Language (GfdS), the other from name researcher Knud Bielefeld — agree that Germany’s top boy name of 2023 was Noah.

(The rankings by the GfdS account for over 90% of the first names bestowed in Germany in 2023, while the rankings by Bielefeld account for about 40% of the babies born in Germany in 2023. Both sets of rankings combine different spellings of the same name.)

Here are Germany’s top girl names, according to both sources:

Girl names (GfdS)Girl names (Bielefeld)
1Sophia/SofiaEmilia
2EmiliaEmma
3EmmaSophia
4MiaHannah
5Hannah/HannaMia
6MilaElla
7LinaMila
8EllaLina
9Klara/ClaraLia
10Lia/LiahLeni

And here are Germany’s top boy names, according to both sources:

Boy names (GfdS)Boy names (Bielefeld)
1NoahNoah
2Matteo/Mattheo/Mateo/MatheoMatteo
3LeonElias
4PaulLeon
5EmilPaul
6Luca/LukaTheo
7Henry/HenriLuca
8EliasFinn
9Louis/LuisLiam
10LiamEmil

Finally, here are Germany’s top names of 2022, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Germany (public domain)