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
- Olivia, 312 baby girls
- Lilja, 274
- Eevi, 272
- Sofia, 271
- Venla, 254 (3-way tie)
- Aino, 254 (3-way tie)
- Isla, 254 (3-way tie)
- Aada, 240
- Emma, 233
- Aava, 230
- Helmi, 225
- Linnea, 214 (tie)
- Ellen, 214 (tie)
- Kerttu, 202
- Pihla, 201
- Ella, 197
- Viola, 195
- Hilla, 189
- Elli, 188
- Seela, 187
- Enni, 179
- Emilia, 178
- Alma, 168
- Livia, 160
- Minea, 159
- Matilda, 157
- Elsa, 154
- Ilona, 140 (tie)
- Mila, 140 (tie)
- Hilda, 138
- Amanda, 134 (tie)
- Alisa, 134 (tie)
- Elsi, 132 (tie)
- Alina, 132 (tie)
- Hilma, 125
- Frida, 124
- Mette, 120
- Hertta, 119 (tie)
- Lumi, 119 (tie)
- Nella, 117
- Aurora, 115
- Siiri, 113
- Vilma, 110
- Saimi, 107 (tie)
- Selma, 107 (tie)
- Viivi, 105 (tie)
- Iida, 105 (tie)
- Oona, 104
- Martta, 102
- Neela, 92
Boy Names
- Leo, 397 baby boys
- Eino, 394
- Oliver, 371
- Elias, 362
- Väinö, 361
- Onni, 301
- Eeli, 279
- Noel, 276
- Toivo, 259
- Joel, 245
- Aatos, 230 – a Finnish term meaning “thought”
- Hugo, 229
- Emil, 224
- Leevi, 218
- Vilho, 211
- Alvar, 202
- Eemil, 186
- Eetu, 179
- Oiva, 178 – means “splendid” in Finnish
- Julius, 177
- Viljami, 176
- Nooa, 172
- Niilo, 168
- Otso, 157 – means “bear” in Finnish
- Lenni, 153
- Daniel, 151
- Anton, 149
- Luka, 148
- Aapo, 143
- Kasper, 142
- Aarni, 140
- Eelis, 139 (tie)
- Matias, 139 (tie)
- Veikko, 138 (tie)
- Aaron, 138 (tie)
- Mikael, 135
- Edvin, 134
- Benjamin, 130
- Jasper, 127 (3-way tie)
- Samuel, 127 (3-way tie)
- Rasmus, 127 (3-way tie)
- Eemeli, 126 (3-way tie)
- Milo, 126 (3-way tie)
- Niklas, 126 (3-way tie)
- Jooa, 123
- Iivo, 120 (3-way tie)
- Veeti, 120 (3-way tie)
- Max, 120 (3-way tie)
- Lucas, 117
- 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:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
| 1. Saga, 35 2. Stella, 29 3. Ellen, 27 4. Edith, 24 5. Olivia, 23 6. Astrid, 21 (tie) 7. Ebba, 21 (tie) 8. Elsa, 20 9. Selma, 19 10. Tove/Iris/Livia, 18 each (3-way tie) | 1. Liam, 35 2. Oliver, 29 3. Benjamin, 28 4. William, 27 5. Alvar, 26 6. Hugo, 25 7. Theo, 23 (5-way tie) 8. Emil, 23 (5-way tie) 9. Frans, 23 (5-way tie) 10. Leon/Elias, 23 each (5-way tie) |
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:
| Girl Names | Boy Names |
| 1. Sofia, 48 2. Maria, 24 3. Eva, 20 4. Emma, 19 (tie) 5. Mia, 19 (tie) 6. Anna, 18 7. Emilia, 17 (3-way tie) 8. Mila, 17 (3-way tie) 9. Sara, 17 (3-way tie) 10. Mira/Olivia, 16 each (tie) | 1. Adam, 38 2. Elias, 35 3. Daniel, 27 4. Leo, 26 5. Muhammad, 21 6. Mark, 20 7. Oliver, 17 8. Benjamin, 15 (3-way tie) 9. Lucas, 15 (3-way tie) 10. Mikael, 15 (3-way tie) |
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
Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)
.svg){kind=link}
