Tag: helmi

The country of Finland is located in Northern Europe and shares land borders with Russia, Sweden, and Norway.

Most of the people in Finland speak Finnish (86.5%), but the rest of the population speaks either Swedish (5.2%), Sami (0.04%), or some other language (8.3%) such as Russian, Estonian, or Arabic.

Last year, Finland welcomed over 51,000 babies. At the time the country released its baby name data, 50,547 of these babies — 24,764 girls and 25,783 boys — had been named.

And what were the most popular names overall? Olivia and Leo.

Finland’s baby name data is broken down by language group, so let’s start with the Finnish speakers…

Finnish speakers

Of the 41,478 (named) babies born to Finnish speakers in Finland last year, 20,301 were girls and 21,177 were boys.

Here are the top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

1. Olivia, 312 baby girls
2. Lilja, 274
3. Eevi, 272
4. Sofia, 271
5. Venla, 254 (3-way tie)
6. Aino, 254 (3-way tie)
7. Isla, 254 (3-way tie)
8. Aada, 240
9. Emma, 233
10. Aava, 230
11. Helmi, 225
12. Linnea, 214 (tie)
13. Ellen, 214 (tie)
14. Kerttu, 202
15. Pihla, 201
16. Ella, 197
17. Viola, 195
18. Hilla, 189
19. Elli, 188
20. Seela, 187
21. Enni, 179
22. Emilia, 178
23. Alma, 168
24. Livia, 160
25. Minea, 159
26. Matilda, 157
27. Elsa, 154
28. Ilona, 140 (tie)
29. Mila, 140 (tie)
30. Hilda, 138
31. Amanda, 134 (tie)
32. Alisa, 134 (tie)
33. Elsi, 132 (tie)
34. Alina, 132 (tie)
35. Hilma, 125
36. Frida, 124
37. Mette, 120
38. Hertta, 119 (tie)
39. Lumi, 119 (tie)
40. Nella, 117
41. Aurora, 115
42. Siiri, 113
43. Vilma, 110
44. Saimi, 107 (tie)
45. Selma, 107 (tie)
46. Viivi, 105 (tie)
47. Iida, 105 (tie)
48. Oona, 104
49. Martta, 102
50. Neela, 92

Boy Names

1. Leo, 397 baby boys
2. Eino, 394
3. Oliver, 371
4. Elias, 362
5. Väinö, 361
6. Onni, 301
7. Eeli, 279
8. Noel, 276
9. Toivo, 259
10. Joel, 245
11. Aatos, 230 – a Finnish term meaning “thought”
12. Hugo, 229
13. Emil, 224
14. Leevi, 218
15. Vilho, 211
16. Alvar, 202
17. Eemil, 186
18. Eetu, 179
19. Oiva, 178 – means “splendid” in Finnish
20. Julius, 177
21. Viljami, 176
22. Nooa, 172
23. Niilo, 168
24. Otso, 157 – means “bear” in Finnish
25. Lenni, 153
26. Daniel, 151
27. Anton, 149
28. Luka, 148
29. Aapo, 143
30. Kasper, 142
31. Aarni, 140
32. Eelis, 139 (tie)
33. Matias, 139 (tie)
34. Veikko, 138 (tie)
35. Aaron, 138 (tie)
36. Mikael, 135
37. Edvin, 134
38. Benjamin, 130
39. Jasper, 127 (3-way tie)
40. Samuel, 127 (3-way tie)
41. Rasmus, 127 (3-way tie)
42. Eemeli, 126 (3-way tie)
43. Milo, 126 (3-way tie)
44. Niklas, 126 (3-way tie)
45. Jooa, 123
46. Iivo, 120 (3-way tie)
47. Veeti, 120 (3-way tie)
48. Max, 120 (3-way tie)
49. Lucas, 117
50. Urho, 116

Minna Saarelma-Paukkala, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, had this to say about Finland’s unique baby names:

Many of them are nature-related, such as Havu (Sprig), Vadelma (Raspberry), Skysy (Autumn) or Tyrsky (Wave). Many new names are also created on the basis of older names, such as snow (Lumi) related ones like Lumia, Lumiina and Lumitähti.

She also noted that names trendy in Finland in the 1940s — particularly those beginning with the letter r, such as Ritva and Raimo — could be coming back. “Reino, for example, has already risen into the top 100.” (Reino is the Finnish form of Reynold.)

Swedish speakers

Of the 3,458 (named) babies born to Swedish speakers in Finland last year, 1,698 were girls and 1,760 were boys. Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Interestingly, Alice and Noah — the top names in Sweden — weren’t as popular among the Swedes of Finland. Alice didn’t even make the top 50. (Noah ranked 50th exactly.)

Other languages

Of the 5,611 (named) babies born in Finland last year to parents who speak something other than Finnish or Swedish, 2,765 were girls and 2,846 were boys. Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Finally, here are Finland’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Suosituimmat Etunimet | Digi- ja väestötietovirasto, Olivia and Leo Finland’s most popular baby names in 2021, Population and Society – Statistics Finland, Behind the Name