Baby Name: Malia

Mountainous, landlocked Switzerland is located in the middle of Europe and surrounded by five other countries: Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, and France.

Last year, Switzerland welcomed 82,371 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are Switzerland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

1. Emma, 361 baby girls
2. Mia, 356
3. Sofia, 318
4. Emilia, 292
5. Lina, 289
6. Elena, 280
7. Mila, 267
8. Nora, 258
9. Malea, 249
10. Lia, 230 (tie)
11. Olivia, 230 (tie)
12. Ella, 222
13. Anna, 219 (tie)
14. Giulia, 219 (tie)
15. Alice, 218 (tie)
16. Lea, 218 (tie)
17. Alina, 212 (tie)
18. Lena, 212 (tie)
19. Nina, 210
20. Chiara, 208 (tie)
21. Lara, 208 (tie)
22. Luna, 195
23. Leonie, 194
24. Elina, 193
25. Sophia, 192
26. Yara, 186
27. Julia, 185
28. Laura, 182
29. Elin, 178
30. Valentina, 176
31. Sara, 175
32. Emily, 170
33. Aurora, 168
34. Amelia, 167
35. Luana, 166
36. Sophie, 165
37. Livia, 151
38. Elisa, 143
39. Eva, 141 (tie)
40. Juna, 141 (tie)
41. Zoé, 138
42. Mara, 133
43. Victoria, 131
44. Jana, 129
45. Ronja, 128
46. Lou, 127 (tie)
47. Maria, 127 (tie)
48. Ava, 126
49. Charlotte, 124
50. Alma, 123 (tie)
51. Malia, 123 (tie)

Boy Names

1. Noah, 540 boy names
2. Liam, 428
3. Matteo, 353
4. Leon, 293
5. Luca, 291
6. Gabriel, 286
7. Elias, 281
8. Leo, 256
9. Louis, 251
10. Leano, 242
11. Lio, 233
12. Leonardo, 224
13. Lian, 210
14. Nino, 208
15. Elio, 205
16. Julian, 201
17. Aaron, 199
18. Nico, 197
19. Elia, 196 (tie)
20. Levi, 196 (tie)
21. Samuel, 191
22. Finn, 184
23. Malik, 177
24. Luan, 176
25. David, 174 (tie)
26. Leandro, 174 (tie)
27. Mattia, 169
28. Diego, 168 (tie)
29. Milo, 168 (tie)
30. Adam, 157
31. Ben, 156
32. Levin, 155
33. Dario, 152 (tie)
34. Nael, 152 (tie)
35. Arthur, 151 (tie)
36. Noé, 151 (tie)
37. Jonas, 150 (tie)
38. Lenny, 150 (tie)
39. Mateo, 149
40. Livio, 148
41. Lucas, 145
42. Robin, 144
43. Enea, 138
44. Nathan, 137
45. Kian, 136
46. Nelio, 134
47. Mael, 128
48. Tim, 127
49. Theo, 126
50. Enzo, 123 (tie)
51. Laurin, 123 (tie)

The name Malea has risen significantly (among German-speakers almost exclusively) over the last twenty years. Malea debuted in the Swiss data in 2003, vaulted from outside the girls’ top 1,000 all the way to 261st in 2009, rose to the top 100 a few years later, and finally entered the top 10 in 2022. No doubt this rise was fueled by the trendiness of Mia, Emilia, and Mila. (Mia has ranked either #1 or #2 in Switzerland ever since 2011.)

The girls’ top 100 included Yuna (59th), Dua (66th), Melissa (84th), and Ida (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Nevio (55th), Fabio (71st), Romeo (85th), and Timo (94th).

Switzerland, which is home to about 8.7 million people, has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Here are the top baby names among the speakers of each of these languages:

And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — names that were given to just two babies each in Switzerland in 2022:

Some definitions/explanations:

• Hansueli is a Swiss-German combination of Hans (equivalent to John) and Ueli (a diminutive of Ulrich).
• Lirim is based on the Albanian word liri, meaning “freedom, liberty.”
  • The Albanian names Liridon, Liridona and Ilirida were also derived from liri.
• Maluna may have been inspired by a German children’s book series featuring a fairy character named Maluna Mondschein. (Her first name is an elaboration of luna, Latin for “moon,” while her last name is German for “moonshine.”) The six books, written by Andrea Schütze, were published from 2014 to 2019.

Finally, here’s a link to Switzerland’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names of newborns – Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland – Wikipedia, Languages of Switzerland – Wikipedia, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)