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
- Sofija
- Emilija*
- Alise
- Anna
- Marta
- Amelija*
- Paula
- Emma
- Elizabete
- Darta* – the Latvian form of Dorothea
- Estere
- Elza
- Mia
- Viktorija
- Marija
- Katrina*
- Gabriela
- Keita – the Latvian form of Kate
- Melanija*
- Eva
- Alisa
- Evelina*
- Odrija – the Latvian form of Audrey
- Milana
- Nora
- Madara – the Latvian word for bedstraw (i.e., plants in the genus Galium)
- Patricija*
- Nikola
- Hanna
- Luize*
- Eliza*
- Maija
- Olivija*
- Laura
- Anastasija
- Amanda
- Kate
- Melisa
- Enija – the Latvian form of Annie
- Aleksandra
- Veronika
- Adelina*
- Sara*
- Karlina*
- Rebeka
- Šarlote – the Latvian form of Charlotte
- Arina
- Kira
- Adele
- Ieva – the Latvian word for bird cherry (Prunus padus)
Boy names
- Olivers
- Roberts
- Marks
- Gustavs
- 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.
- Markuss
- Daniels
- Karlis*
- Adrians
- Jekabs*
- Aleksandrs
- Ernests
- Ralfs
- Dominiks
- Alekss
- Tomass
- The rise of Tomass during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Tomass Dukurs, who began racing professionally in 1998.
- Arturs*
- Ricards (the “c” should have a caron)
- Toms
- Maksims
- Teodors
- 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.”
- Artjoms – the Latvian form of the Russian name Artyom
- Reinis
- Kristers – the Latvian form of the Swedish name Christer
- Lukass*
- 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.
- Gabriels
- Timurs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Timur
- Valters – the Latvian form of Walter
- Kristofers
- Everts
- Hugo
- Davids*
- Mihails
- Matvejs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Matvey
- Renars* – the Latvian form of the German name Reinhard
- Edvards
- Rudolfs*
- Oskars
- Henrijs
- Leo
- Rihards
- Rodrigo
- Pauls
- Kristaps – the Latvian form of Christopher
- Alberts
- Matiss* – the Latvian form of Matthew
- Patriks
- 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)
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