Baby Name: Matthew

From 2018 to 2022, the European country of Latvia — which shares land borders with Estonia and Lithuania (the other two Baltic states) as well as Russia and Belarus — welcomed more than 89,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofija and Olivers.

Here are Latvia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names for the five-year period (2018-2022):

Girl names

1. Sofija
2. Emilija*
3. Alise
4. Anna
5. Marta
6. Amelija*
7. Paula
8. Emma
9. Elizabete
10. Darta* – the Latvian form of Dorothea
11. Estere
12. Elza
13. Mia
14. Viktorija
15. Marija
16. Katrina*
17. Gabriela
18. Keita – the Latvian form of Kate
19. Melanija*
20. Eva
21. Alisa
22. Evelina*
23. Odrija – the Latvian form of Audrey
24. Milana
25. Nora
26. Madara – the Latvian word for bedstraw (i.e., plants in the genus Galium)
27. Patricija*
28. Nikola
29. Hanna
30. Luize*
31. Eliza*
32. Maija
33. Olivija*
34. Laura
35. Anastasija
36. Amanda
37. Kate
38. Melisa
39. Enija – the Latvian form of Annie
40. Aleksandra
41. Veronika
42. Adelina*
43. Sara*
44. Karlina*
45. Rebeka
46. Šarlote – the Latvian form of Charlotte
47. Arina
48. Kira
49. Adele
50. Ieva – the Latvian word for bird cherry (Prunus padus)

Boy names

1. Olivers
2. Roberts
3. Marks
4. Gustavs
5. Emils*
   • The usage of Emils rose steeply during the 1990s (and likely earlier) thanks to the 1985 TV movie Emila nedarbi, which was so popular (and aired so frequently) in Latvia “that many of the lines of the leading character Emils and his parents have become part of the national lexicon.” The program was based on the children’s novel Emil i Lönneberga by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.
6. Markuss
7. Daniels
8. Karlis*
9. Adrians
10. Jekabs*
11. Aleksandrs
12. Ernests
13. Ralfs
14. Dominiks
15. Alekss
16. Tomass
    • The rise of Tomass during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Tomass Dukurs, who began racing professionally in 1998.
17. Arturs*
18. Ricards (the “c” should have a caron)
19. Toms
20. Maksims
21. Teodors
22. Janis*
    • The pre-Christian name Janis, which was adopted as the Latvian equivalent of Johannes/John, “has been at or near the top of the list for popular names given to baby boys in Latvia for centuries.”
23. Artjoms – the Latvian form of the Russian name Artyom
24. Reinis
25. Kristers – the Latvian form of the Swedish name Christer
26. Lukass*
27. Martins
    • The rise of Martins during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Martins Dukurs, who, like his older brother Tomass, began racing professionally in 1998. Martins was a silver medalist at both the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
28. Gabriels
29. Timurs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Timur
30. Valters – the Latvian form of Walter
31. Kristofers
32. Everts
33. Hugo
34. Davids*
35. Mihails
36. Matvejs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Matvey
37. Renars* – the Latvian form of the German name Reinhard
38. Edvards
39. Rudolfs*
40. Oskars
41. Henrijs
42. Leo
43. Rihards
44. Rodrigo
45. Pauls
46. Kristaps – the Latvian form of Christopher
47. Alberts
48. Matiss* – the Latvian form of Matthew
49. Patriks
50. Daniils

The girl’s top 100 included Lauma (69th), the name of a woodland spirit in Latvian mythology.

The boys’ top 100 included Viesturs (94th), which is based on the Latvian word viesturis, meaning “hospitable.”

And two of the names that dropped out of the top 100 recently are Kristine* and Lasma*:

• Kristine, the #1 girl name in Latvia throughout the 1980s, was originally popularized by the 1966 Soviet-Latvian film Purva bridejs, which featured a character named Kristine.
• Lasma, a top-50 girl name from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was influenced by the 1981 Soviet-Latvian film Limuzins Janu nakts krasa, which featured a character named Lasma.

During the previous five-year period, from 2013 to 2017, the top names in Latvia were Sofija and Roberts.

*Letters with macrons don’t render properly on my site, so please imagine they exist in the names marked with an asterisk.

Sources:

• Top 100 newborn names in Latvia – Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia
• Top 100 newborn names in Latvia of the past 100 years – Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia
• Number of births and fertility rates – Official Statistics of Latvia
• Jacobs, Timothy. “Latvian names are more than just Janis.” Baltic Times 28 Feb. 2002.
• Latvia – Wikipedia
• Behind the Name
• Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Latvia (public domain)