How popular is the baby name Isak in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Isak.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Isak


Posts that Mention the Name Isak

Popular baby names in Iceland, 2021

iceland

Iceland is a sparsely populated (and actively volcanic!) island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean, very close to the Arctic Circle.

Last year, Iceland welcomed 4,866 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Embla and Aron.

Here are Iceland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Embla, 31 baby girls
  2. Emilía, 29 (tie)
  3. Sara, 29 (tie)
  4. Sóley, 26 – means “buttercup” in Icelandic.
  5. Aþena, 25 (tie) – form of Athena.
  6. Matthildur, 25 (tie) – form of Matilda.
  7. Katla, 24
  8. Guðrún, 23
  9. Eva, 22 (3-way tie)
  10. Saga, 22 (3-way tie)
  11. Viktoría, 22 (3-way tie)
  12. Anna, 21 (4-way tie)
  13. Bríet, 21 (4-way tie)
  14. Emma, 21 (4-way tie)
  15. Hekla, 21 (4-way tie)
  16. Júlía, 19
  17. Móeiður, 18
  18. Aldís, 17 (3-way tie)
  19. Andrea, 17 (3-way tie)
  20. Elísabet, 17 (3-way tie)
  21. Freyja, 16 (tie)
  22. Kristín, 16 (tie)
  23. Ísabella, 15 (tie)
  24. Katrín, 15 (tie)
  25. Alexandra, 14 (7-way tie)
  26. Hanna, 14 (7-way tie)
  27. Klara, 14 (7-way tie)
  28. Margrét, 14 (7-way tie)
  29. Rakel, 14 (7-way tie)
  30. Salka, 14 (7-way tie)
  31. Una, 14 (7-way tie)
  32. Hrafnhildur, 13 (3-way tie) – comprised of elements meaning “raven” and “battle.”
  33. Íris, 13 (3-way tie)
  34. Þórdís, 13 (3-way tie)
  35. Kolbrún, 12
  36. Berglind, 11 (7-way tie)
  37. Birta, 11 (7-way tie)
  38. Helga, 11 (7-way tie)
  39. Kamilla, 11 (7-way tie)
  40. Laufey, 11 (7-way tie)
  41. María, 11 (7-way tie)
  42. Sóldís, 11 (7-way tie)
  43. Amelía, 10 (14-way tie)
  44. Aría, 10 (14-way tie)
  45. Áróra, 10 (14-way tie)
  46. Elín, 10 (14-way tie)
  47. Hafdís, 10 (14-way tie)
  48. Heiðdís, 10 (14-way tie)
  49. Hildur, 10 (14-way tie)
  50. Hrafntinna, 10 (14-way tie) – based on the Icelandic word hrafntinnu, meaning “obsidian.” (The elements mean “raven” and “flint.”)
  51. Lena, 10 (14-way tie)
  52. Lóa, 10 (14-way tie)
  53. Mía, 10 (14-way tie)
  54. Natalía, 10 (14-way tie)
  55. Unnur, 10 (14-way tie)
  56. Ylfa, 10 (14-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Aron, 41 baby boys
  2. Jökull, 36 – (pronounced yoh-kut, roughly) means “glacier” in Icelandic.
  3. Alexander, 31
  4. Kári, 30
  5. Emil, 28
  6. Jón, 27
  7. Óliver, 25
  8. Matthías, 24 (tie)
  9. Mikael, 24 (tie)
  10. Atlas, 23 (tie)
  11. Elmar, 23 (tie)
  12. Óðinn, 22
  13. Birnir, 21 (tie)
  14. Sigurður, 21 (tie)
  15. Baldur, 20 (6-way tie)
  16. Birkir, 20 (6-way tie) – based on the Icelandic word birki, meaning “birch”
  17. Brynjar, 20 (6-way tie)
  18. Ísak, 20 (6-way tie)
  19. Stefán, 20 (6-way tie)
  20. Tómas, 20 (6-way tie)
  21. Dagur, 19
  22. Styrmir, 18
  23. Úlfur, 18
  24. Bjartur, 17 (5-way tie)
  25. Daníel, 17 (5-way tie)
  26. Fannar, 17 (5-way tie)
  27. Guðmundur, 17 (5-way tie)
  28. Róbert, 17 (5-way tie)
  29. Ari, 16 (6-way tie)
  30. Jóhann, 16 (6-way tie)
  31. Kristófer, 16 (6-way tie)
  32. Óskar, 16 (6-way tie)
  33. Theodór, 16 (6-way tie)
  34. Viktor, 16 (6-way tie)
  35. Baltasar, 15 (3-way tie)
  36. Bjarki, 15 (3-way tie)
  37. Ólafur, 15 (3-way tie)
  38. Benedikt, 14 (9-way tie)
  39. Benjamín, 14 (9-way tie)
  40. Einar, 14 (9-way tie)
  41. Hjörtur, 14 (9-way tie)
  42. Hrafn, 14 (9-way tie)
  43. Jakob, 14 (9-way tie)
  44. Kristján, 14 (9-way tie)
  45. Magnús, 14 (9-way tie)
  46. Ýmir, 14 (9-way tie)
  47. Hinrik, 13 (4-way tie)
  48. Hlynur, 13 (4-way tie) – means “maple” in Icelandic.
  49. Máni, 13 (4-way tie) – based on the Old Norse word máni, meaning “moon.”
    • Máni was the personification of the moon in Germanic mythology.
  50. Ragnar, 13 (4-way tie)

Notably, the girl name Saga jumped from 80th place in 2020 to 10th in 2021.

Here are several interesting names from outside the top 50:

More Girl NamesMore Boy names
Dagbjört (“day” + “light”), 5Frosti (“frost”), 12
Melkorka (a character from a saga), 5Nökkvi (“boat, skip”), 9
Kría (“arctic tern”) 4Víkingur, 8
Ósk (“wish”), 2Snæbjörn (“snow” + “bear”), 5
Ugla (“owl”), 2Örlygur (“warrior”), 2

And, because Iceland releases all of its baby name data (yay!), we can check out names at the other end of the spectrum.

Over 340 girl names and over 360 boy names were bestowed just once in Iceland last year. Here’s a selection of Iceland’s unique baby names of 2021:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Álfrún, Blíða, Charlotta, Dýrleif, Elínrós, Fanndís, Gígja, Hjaltey, Irmý, Jökla, Kristrún, Lílú, Marlaug, Myrkey, Nanna, Oddný, Pála, Quin, Rökkva, Svanhvít, Þórkatla, Unndís, Viðey, Wilrie, Ylfur, ZojaÁstmar, Barði, Carlos, Döggvi, Dreki, Ellert, Feykir, Greipur, Himri, Ísarr, Jörfi, Klettur, Kveldúlfur, Loftur, Myrkvi, Númi, Öxar, Pálmi, Röskvi, Skúmur, Sumarliði, Þorfinnur, Vigfús, Xander, Yariel, Zoran

Some simplified definitions for a few of the above…

  • Döggvi, “dew”
  • Dreki, “dragon”
  • Dýrleif, “deer” + “heir”
  • Fanndis, “snowdrift” + “woman”
  • Feykir, “fire”
  • Gigja, “fiddle”
  • Himri, short for himbrimi, “common loon” in Icelandic
  • Jökla, feminine version of Jökull, the #2 boy name
  • Myrkvi, “darkness (caused by fog or a storm)” or “eclipse“
  • Sumarliði, “summer-farer”
  • Svanhvit, “swan” + “white”

There was also a single non-binary name, Blær (“light breeze”), registered in Iceland last year.

Interestingly, about a decade ago, a teenager named Blær forced Iceland to legally recognize her name — which, at that time, was considered solely masculine — by taking the government to court. Perhaps that court battle paved the way for Blær to become a dual-gender name in Iceland? Hm…

The last time I posted rankings for Iceland, in 2018, the top two names (Embla and Aron) were the same.

Sources: Vinsælustu nöfnin 2021 | Þjóðskrá, Vinsælustu nöfnin 2021 | Þjóðskrá, Nordic Names
Image by Kamil Kalbarczyk from Unsplash

Popular baby names in Norway, 2021

Norway

According to Statistics Norway, the most popular baby names in the country last year were Nora and Noah — both of which happen to be quite similar to the name of the country itself (Norge, pronounced nor-geh).

Here are Norway’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Nora/Norah, 409 baby girls
  2. Emma, 369
  3. Sofie/Sophie, 327
  4. Olivia, 311
  5. Ella, 302
  6. Sofia/Sophia, 295
  7. Maja/Maia/Maya, 282
  8. Leah/Lea, 279
  9. Frida, 276
  10. Ingrid, 273

Boy Names

  1. Noah/Noa, 402 baby boys
  2. Oskar/Oscar, 370
  3. Oliver, 367
  4. Lucas/Lukas, 364
  5. Isak/Isac/Isaac, 361
  6. Aksel/Axel, 346 (3-way tie)
  7. Emil, 346 (3-way tie)
  8. Filip/Philip/Fillip/Phillip, 346 (3-way tie)
  9. Jakob/Jacob, 325
  10. William, 313

In the girls’ top 10, Frida replaced Emilie.

In the boys’ top 10, Isak and Aksel replaced Liam and Henrik.

Names that saw notable increases in usage include…

  • Girl names: Ada (9th), Alma (12th), Iben (19th), Ellie (32nd), Hedvig (38th), Mie (42nd), Mille (46th), Hermine (48th), Klara, and Noelle
  • Boy names: Oskar (2nd), Isak (5th), Aksel (6th), Ludvig (19th), Gustav (25th), Falk, Harald, Joel, and Luca

In the capital city, Oslo, the top names last year were Sofia and Oskar.

And the year before, in 2020, the top names in Norway were Nora and Jakob.

Sources: Navn – Statistics Norway, Dette var de mest populære navnene i 2021 – Statistics Norway

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2021

sweden

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

Last year, Sweden welcomed over 114,200 babies — nearly 55,800 girls and close to 58,500 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Alice and Noah.

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Alice, 706 baby girls
  2. Maja, 681
  3. Vera, 674
  4. Alma, 667
  5. Selma, 660
  6. Elsa, 652
  7. Lilly, 625
  8. Ella, 606
  9. Astrid, 596
  10. Wilma, 586
  11. Ellie, 584
  12. Olivia, 555
  13. Freja, 551
  14. Leah, 547
  15. Ines, 539
  16. Signe, 534
  17. Stella, 511
  18. Ebba, 509
  19. Clara, 492
  20. Saga, 481
  21. Alva, 479
  22. Agnes, 473
  23. Ester, 441
  24. Hedda, 423
  25. Alicia, 398 (tie)
  26. Mila, 398 (tie)
  27. Julia, 388
  28. Iris, 372
  29. Molly, 370
  30. Luna, 362
  31. Juni, 355
  32. Sigrid, 353
  33. Ellen, 346
  34. Leia, 334
  35. Nova, 306
  36. Livia, 303
  37. Lova, 298
  38. Celine, 294
  39. Meja, 289
  40. Emilia, 286
  41. Elvira, 279
  42. Elise, 275 (tie)
  43. Nora, 275 (tie)
  44. Linnea, 273
  45. Liv, 271
  46. Edith, 265 (tie)
  47. Lo, 265 (tie)
  48. Sofia, 262
  49. Sara, 259
  50. Tyra, 256

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 745 baby boys
  2. William, 726
  3. Liam, 683
  4. Hugo, 679
  5. Lucas, 668
  6. Adam, 643
  7. Oliver, 635
  8. Matteo, 632
  9. Frans, 581
  10. Elias, 577
  11. Walter, 576
  12. Leo, 562
  13. Leon, 550
  14. Oscar, 547
  15. Alfred, 540
  16. August, 531
  17. Nils, 521
  18. Harry, 509
  19. Theo, 505
  20. Sam, 498
  21. Otto, 481
  22. Ludvig, 476
  23. Arvid, 468
  24. Elliot, 456
  25. Charlie, 442
  26. Malte, 439
  27. Isak, 438
  28. Alexander, 429
  29. Louie, 425
  30. Theodor, 420
  31. Ebbe, 406
  32. Adrian, 403
  33. Olle, 398 (tie)
  34. Vincent, 398 (tie)
  35. Benjamin, 394
  36. Filip, 389
  37. Melvin, 377
  38. Love, 375
  39. Axel, 368
  40. Gabriel, 366
  41. Henry, 343
  42. Mohammed, 337
  43. Jack, 329
  44. Elton, 327
  45. Colin, 325
  46. Josef, 322
  47. Aron, 319
  48. Viggo, 309
  49. Edvin, 305
  50. Albin, 304

(Each of these names represents the most common spelling of that name, but “the numbers include all alternative spellings,” according to Statistics Sweden.)

In the girls’ top 10, Vera and Lilly replaced Olivia and Freja.

In the boys’ top 10, Frans — which jumped to 9th place from 27th the year before — replaced Oscar.

The names in Sweden’s top 100 that rose the fastest from 2020 to 2021 were Alba and Ted. (The previous fastest-rising male name, Björn, was second-fastest this time around.) The names that saw the steepest drops in usage were Ronja and Vincent.

In 2020, the top two names were also Alice and Noah.

Source: Name Statistics – Statistics Sweden

Inconspicuous anagram baby names: Blake/Kaleb, Hale/Leah

letters

I recently updated my old anagram baby names post to make it much more comprehensive. As I worked on it, though, I noticed that many of those sets of names had obvious similarities, such as the same first letters and/or the same rhythm.

So I thought I’d make a second, shorter list of anagram names that were less conspicuously similar. Specifically, I wanted the second list to feature sets of names with different first letters and different numbers of syllables.

And that’s what you’ll find below — pairs of anagram names that are relatively distinct from one another. So much so that, at first glance (or listen), some might not even strike you as being anagrammatic at all. :)

Click on any name to check out its popularity graph…

Most of the names above have a clear number of syllables, but a few do not. (I categorized them according to my own interpretation/accent.) So, if you’re interested in using any of these pairings, just remember to test the names out loud first!

Which of the pairs above do you like best?