How popular is the baby name Grimm 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 Grimm.

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Popularity of the baby name Grimm


Posts that mention the name Grimm

Popular and unique baby names in Sweden, 2023

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden tricked us, you guys.

Last year, Statistics Sweden ominously announced that it would “stop producing name statistics.”

It neglected to mention that the country’s baby name data would continue coming out every year — that the names were simply going to be handled by a different government agency (the Swedish Tax Agency) going forward.

I wanted to be annoyed about this deception, but my annoyance evaporated after I learned that the Swedish Tax Agency had released all of the country’s 2023 baby name data — meaning that we could finally check out Sweden’s rare and unique names (yay!).

So, without further ado, let’s take a look…

Sweden welcomed 100,051 babies in 2023. What were the most popular names among these babies? Vera and Noah.

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Vera, 608 baby girls
  2. Elsa, 603
  3. Alma, 597
  4. Selma, 538
  5. Alice, 512
  6. Signe, 494
  7. Ellie, 490
  8. Olivia, 488
  9. Astrid, 470
  10. Ella, 467
  11. Stella, 447
  12. Maja, 442
  13. Freja, 434
  14. Saga, 426
  15. Alva, 415
  16. Agnes, 392
  17. Ebba, 381
  18. Leah, 375
  19. Alba, 365
  20. Hedda, 362
  21. Iris, 344
  22. Wilma, 341
  23. Ines, 339
  24. Alicia, 335
  25. Mila, 332
  26. Luna, 304
  27. Lilly, 292
  28. Sigrid, 288
  29. Elvira, 286
  30. Leia, 280
  31. Juni, 274
  32. Julia, 258
  33. Hilma, 256
  34. Clara, 253
  35. Majken, 242 (tie)
  36. Molly, 242 (tie)
  37. Ellen, 241
  38. Ester, 238 (tie)
  39. Lykke, 238 (tie)
  40. Lily, 236
  41. Nora, 232
  42. Ingrid, 226
  43. Nova, 223
  44. Edith, 205
  45. Livia, 204
  46. Sally, 203
  47. Lea, 198
  48. Tyra, 194
  49. Liv, 193
  50. Esther, 192

Boy names

  1. Noah, 687 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 652
  3. William, 565
  4. Liam, 558
  5. Nils, 536
  6. Oliver, 517
  7. Elias, 516
  8. Adam, 507
  9. August, 506
  10. Sam, 504
  11. Alfred, 485
  12. Otto, 479
  13. Leo, 463
  14. Leon, 415
  15. Frans, 414
  16. Charlie, 388
  17. Olle, 372
  18. Theo, 366
  19. Harry, 362
  20. Arvid, 351
  21. Ludvig, 350
  22. Malte, 345
  23. Ebbe, 338 (tie)
  24. Lucas, 338 (tie)
  25. Tage, 330
  26. Elliot, 327
  27. Henry, 326
  28. Adrian, 322
  29. Gabriel, 319
  30. Elton, 318
  31. Ted, 317
  32. Walter, 314
  33. Vincent, 296
  34. Alexander, 294 (tie)
  35. Oscar, 294 (tie)
  36. Valter, 293
  37. Benjamin, 282
  38. Noel, 274 (tie)
  39. Theodor, 274 (tie)
  40. Jack, 268 (tie)
  41. Viggo, 268 (tie)
  42. Axel, 264
  43. Albin, 256
  44. Melker, 251
  45. Levi, 240
  46. Isak, 236
  47. Dante, 233
  48. Lukas, 230
  49. Matteo, 226
  50. Hjalmar, 225

The top names of 2022, Astrid and William, dropped to ninth place and third place, respectively.

The boys’ top 100 included Ture (53rd), Vidar (55th), Loke (71st), and Bill (97th).

The girls’ top 100 included Tuva (66th), Stina (75th), Lo (78th), and Eira (81st).

Farther down on the girls’ list I spotted Madicken, which was given to 15 babies last year. Swedish author Astrid Lindgren featured a fictional 7-year-old girl named Margareta “Madicken” Engström in several of her children’s books. (Lindgren had named the character after a childhood friend, Anne-Marie, whose nickname was Madicken.)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a sampling of the more than 8,000 names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Älva, Bergþóra, Cyrine, Dahlina, Elfie, Frigga, Glittra, Holland, Iseline, Jinjin, Källa, Lavendel, Minélle, Neoliva, Ornina, Pommelinn, Qellie, Rauline, Sigunn, Thaïs, Undin, Virvla, Winta, Xanne, Yrja, ZtellaAsterix, Bornwell, Casbian, Delton, Ejnar, Frenne, Grimm, Hälge, Ingemund, Jingda, Kasjan, Lillebror, Mjalton, Nille, Öivind, Palomino, Qingfeng, Robiel, Skjómi, Toste, Uzeer, Villie, Williott, Xanto, Yosia, Zillas

Some definitions/associations for a few of the above:

  • Glittra means “to glitter” in Swedish.
  • Källa means “source” in Swedish. (Originally it referred to a source of water, such as a spring or a well.)
  • Lavendel means “lavender” in Swedish (and several other languages).
  • Lillebror means “little brother” in Swedish.
  • Mjalton refers to Mjältön, an island in Sweden.
  • Skjómi, an Old Norse word meaning “a flickering light,” was used metaphorically in Skaldic poetry to refer to a drawn sword.
  • Virvla means “to whirl” in Swedish. (The related noun virvel means “vortex.”)

Sources: Elsa och Noah populäraste namnen hos nyfödda – Skatteverket, Namn på nyfödda – Skatteverket, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Madicken (Mardie) – Astrid Lindgren, Wiktionary, skjómi – Lexicon Poeticum, skjómi – Old Norse Dictionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

“Grim” names for the Winter Solstice

trees in winter

Welcome to the shortest day of the year!

The lack of sunlight is making things seem pretty grim outside, so today let’s check out some “grim” baby names.

Here are a few we’ve talked about already:

  • The saint name Grimoaldus
  • The recent Idaho baby name Grimsley
  • The 2012 debut name Grimm
  • The early Boston name Grimstone
  • The ever-name Evergrim
  • The Domesday Book names Alfgrim, Arngrim, Fargrim, Grim, Grimbald, Grimbert, Grimkel, Grimulf, Hafgrim, Hundgrim, Kolgrim, Madalgrim, Moregrim, Mulagrim, Mylnugrim, Odhgrim, Ordgrim, Segrim, Steingrimr, Thorgrim, and Ulfgrim

And here are 10 more rare-but-legit personal names with the word “grim” in them. All of these come from surnames:

  • Grimble
  • Grimley
  • Grimmer
  • Grimmett
  • Grimsby
  • Grimsey
    • Fun fact: The one Icelandic island that crosses the Arctic Circle is called Grímsey Island.
  • Grimshaw
  • Grimstead
  • Grimward
  • Grimwood

Speaking of Grimwood…several successive generations of boys in the Death (or De’Ath) family of Suffolk, England, were named Grimwood — “Grimwood Death.” Grimmest name of them all, perhaps?

Do you know of any other good grim-names?

P.S. In most “grim” names, the element grim can be traced back to either of two ancient Germanic words — one meaning “grim, cruel,” the other meaning “mask, helmet.”

Image: Adapted from F12414016 by Andy Miccone under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The top boy-name debuts of 2012

lotus bud

There weren’t many high-hitting boy name debuts on the SSA’s 2012 baby name list:

  1. Naksh, 28 baby boys
  2. Viaan, 23
  3. Shenouda, 21
  4. Tyrann, 15
  5. Dmoni, 14
  6. Ardan, 13
  7. Uwais, 13
  8. Kaydien, 12
  9. Arkan, 11
  10. Brettly, 11
  11. Maejor, 11
  12. Viyan, 11

Debut names from the 10-babies-and-under group include Cesc, Wale, Banx, Finnick, Mayjor, Savage, Logic, Maijor, Pinches, Avrumy, Greatness, Grimm, Hawkeye, Truce, Anchor, Ducati, Great, Hsa, Iggy, Romance, Scholar, Sodbileg and Wulfric.

Where do these names come from?

Here are some possible explanations:

  • Brettly – from reality show “American Restoration” cast member Brettly.
  • Dmoni – variant of Domani, which jumped in usage in 2012. Domani is one of the kids on the reality TV show “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle.”
  • Finnick – from Hunger Games character Finnick Odair.
  • Grimm – from TV drama “Grimm.”
  • Hawkeye – from The Avengers character Hawkeye.
  • Maejor, Maijor, Mayjor – variants of Major, which made big gains last year. Major is one of the kids on the reality TV show “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle.”
  • Naksh – from Indian TV drama “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai,” in which characters Akshara (played by Hina Khan) and Naitik (played by Karan Mehra) have a baby boy named Naksh in early 2012.
  • Shenouda – from Shenouda III, Pope of the Church of Alexandria, who died in March of 2012.
  • Tyrann – from football player Tyrann Mathieu.
  • Viaan, Viyan – from the son of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. The baby was born in mid-2012.
  • Wale – from rapper Wale. (His stage name is a short form of his birth name, Olubowale.)

Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?

Here’s last year’s debut list.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri

Popular and unique baby names in Brussels (Belgium), 2008

Flag of Belgium
Flag of Belgium

In 2007, the most popular names in Brussels (the capital of both Belgium and the European Union) were Lina/Sara (tied) and Mohamed.

These were the city’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl names

  1. Lina, 94 baby girls (tie)
  2. Sarah, 94 (tie)
  3. Aya, 86
  4. Yasmine, 71
  5. Rania, 70 (tie)
  6. Sara, 70 (tie)
  7. Salma, 69
  8. Imane, 63
  9. Ines, 56
  10. Clara, 49

Boy names

  1. Mohamed, 235 baby boys
  2. Adam, 169
  3. Rayan, 84
  4. Nathan, 81
  5. Gabriel, 66
  6. Amine, 62
  7. Ayoub, 58 (tie)
  8. Mehdi, 58 (tie)
  9. Lucas, 56
  10. Anas, 54

According to Brussel Nieuws.be, the number of births between 2002 and 2007 rose by 8.4% for boys and 9.2% for girls, but the total number of different names increased by 17.0% and 20.7%, respectively. Very interesting…

And what about the unique names? They included:

Unique boy namesUnique girl names
Adonis, Arafat, Aristote, Aristoteles, Babaloluwa, Beau-Luccio, Blade, Blij, Bonheur, Boy, Broes, C-jay, Christ-Yehochua, Devo, Diesel, Dieumerci, Dike, Doedoe, Elegast, Ensor, Euro, Exaucé, Faithwins, Fox-Anthony, Goodwill, Grimm, Harley-Davidson, Jazz, Jean-Public, Jefken, Joyeux, Kennedy, Kyuss, Lancelot, Lion, Lowie-Viktoor, Maddox, Mekongo-Willy, Mel-Gibson, Merlijn, Moon, Mouhamadousaikou, Mozes, Muhammed-Ali, Odd, Okay, Precieux, Prodige, Quossay, Ridder, Rocco, Serafin, Sky, Spencer-Cash, Stier, Strong, Sufjan, Sunday, Sunny, Synphorien, Thoth, Thörgal, Trésor, Vangelis, Volkan, Vos, Welcome, Wens, WolfAlaska, Allégresse, Babbe, Babel, Babsi, Bambi, Beertje, Believe, Berin, Beste, Bilitis, Blue, Camus-Salomé, Charisma, Choupette, Condoleezza, Cozmo, Creator, December, Destinée, Destiny, Diva, Echo, Elf, Elie-Blue, Ella-Blue, Enola-Jane, Exaucée, Exocée, Ezel, Fidelité, Glorieuse, Glory, Godwill, Hallelujah, Honesty, Harmonie, Ijoux, India-Summer, Joyful, Kadiatoudiallo, Kikie, Lorelei, Lucrecia-Shanice, Luu-Ly, Lux, Mackenzie, Magnificat, Magnolia, Mammelow, Man, Marvelous, Meadow, Melody, Merel, Missie, Missy, Muze, Nanouk, Netje, Pixie, Salvatrice, Santana, Sherilyn-Morissette, Summer, Sun, Sway, Trinity, Venus, Victory, Vlinder, Winter, Zonne

(I believe the above were culled from records covering the entire country, not just Brussels.)

Sources: Algemene Directie Statistiek, Mohamed tops baby name list in Brussels, Belgian Baby Names 2007

Image: Adapted from Flag of Belgium (public domain)