Popular baby names in the Channel Islands, 2023

Flag of Jersey
Flag of Jersey

The Channel Islands, located in the English Channel, are divided into two territories: Jersey and Guernsey (both of which are British Crown Dependencies).

The territory of Jersey consists of the archipelago’s largest and most populous island, Jersey. The territory of Guernsey consists of the next-largest and next-most-populous island, Guernsey, along with several smaller islands.

Jersey

Last year, Jersey welcomed a total of 795 babies — 370 girls and 425 boys. Here are Jersey’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Isla
  3. Mia
  4. Emilia
  5. Emily
  6. Isabella
  7. Luna
  8. Florence
  9. Phoebe
  10. Amelia

Boy names

  1. Oliver
  2. Oscar
  3. Jack
  4. Leo
  5. Alfie
  6. Archie
  7. George
  8. Gabriel
  9. Lucas
  10. Luca

A year earlier, the top names in Jersey were Willow and Arthur.

Guernsey

Last year, Guernsey welcomed a total of 456 babies — 218 girls and 238 boys. Here are Guernsey’s top girl names and top boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Mia, 5 baby girls
  2. Millie, 4
  3. Ada, 3 (6-way tie)
  4. Charlotte, 3 (6-way tie)
  5. Florence, 3 (6-way tie)
  6. Isla, 3 (6-way tie)
  7. Sophia, 3 (6-way tie)
  8. Willow, 3 (6-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Harry, 7 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 6
  3. Finley, 5 (tie)
  4. Jack, 5 (tie)
  5. Hugo, 4 (5-way tie)
  6. Lando, 4 (5-way tie)
  7. Leo, 4 (5-way tie)
  8. Luca, 4 (5-way tie)
  9. Rupert, 4 (5-way tie)

Given the number of articles I see about British race-car driver Lando Norris on the Guernsey Press website, I have to assume that the usage of Lando was influenced by Norris. (Interestingly, Norris’ first name wasn’t inspired by the Star Wars character — it was simply a name that his mother, who comes from Belgium, happened to like.)

My source also noted that traditional names like James, George, Thomas, and David are commonly used as middle names (but rarely as first names) in Guernsey these days.

A year earlier, the top names in Guernsey were Ava and Freddie/Jack.

Finally, here’s a link to the Channel Islands’ 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Jersey (public domain)

Popular baby names in Slovakia, 2023

Flag of Slovakia
Flag of Slovakia

The top baby names in Slovakia during the first eleven and a half months of 2023 were Sofia and Jakub, according to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic.

Here are the country’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2023 (from January 1 to December 14):

Girl names

  1. Sofia, 615 baby girls
  2. Eliška, 555
  3. Viktória, 534
  4. Nina, 512
  5. Natália, 498
  6. Ema, 496
  7. Sára, 492
  8. Nela, 423
  9. Olívia, 400
  10. Mia, 379
  11. Hana, 373
  12. Diana, 355
  13. Laura, 340
  14. Tamara, 335
  15. Anna, 331
  16. Emma, 314
  17. Timea, 296
  18. Karolína, 285
  19. Júlia, 283
  20. Kristína, 270

Boy names

  1. Jakub, 914 baby boys
  2. Samuel, 798
  3. Adam, 792
  4. Šimon, 742
  5. Michal, 682
  6. Oliver, 663
  7. Tomáš, 602
  8. Filip, 521
  9. Matej, 501
  10. Martin, 483
  11. Tobias, 471
  12. Lukáš, 460
  13. Matúš, 445
  14. Alex, 440
  15. Dominik, 433
  16. Richard, 414
  17. Peter, 412
  18. Dávid, 390
  19. Patrik , 386
  20. Matias, 369

Since 2010, the top two names in Slovakia have predominantly been Sofia and Jakub. (Adam reached the top spot for boys in 2014 and 2015; Ema and Nina reached the top spot for girls in 2020 and 2021, respectively.)

From 2003 to 2009, the top two names were Viktória and Samuel.

Finally, here are Slovakia’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Source: Najpopulárnejšími menami novorodencov v roku 2023 boli opät’ Sofia a Jakub – Ministerstvo vnútra SR

Image: Adapted from Flag of Slovakia (public domain)

Popular baby names in the Philippines, 2022

Flag of the Philippines
Flag of the Philippines

In 2022, the Philippines welcomed 1,455,393 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Althea and Nathaniel, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Althea, 1,935 baby girls
  2. Angel, 1,388
  3. Samantha, 1,314
  4. Princess, 1,110
  5. Nathalie, 1,094
  6. Chloe, 1,056
  7. Sofia, 1,046
  8. Zia, 984
  9. Athena, 983
  10. Sophia, 973

Boy names

  1. Nathaniel, 1,956 baby boys
  2. Jacob, 1,781
  3. Ezekiel, 1,662
  4. Gabriel, 1,583
  5. Nathan, 1,557
  6. Ethan, 1,359
  7. Noah, 1,322
  8. Liam, 1,198
  9. James, 1,151
  10. Matthew, 1,138

In the girls’ top 10, Zia and Athena replaced Andrea and Angela.

In the boys’ top 10, Noah and Liam replaced Angelo and Zion.

And which baby names saw the biggest jumps in usage?

  • Noah, which rose from 931 to 1,322 baby boys [2021 to 2022]
  • Avianna Louise, which rose from 11 to 295 baby girls [2021 to 2022]

Avianna Louise’s extreme increase must be attributable to something, though I’m not sure what.

In lieu of that, here’s some fun data from a 2017 infographic (PDF) showing how beauty queens have influenced girl names in the Philippines over the years.

In 1974 and 1994 — the first two times that the Philippines hosted the Miss Universe pageant — babies were named after both the delegate from the Philippines and the delegate who won the pageant:

NameDelegateUsage Increase (baby girls)
GuadalupeGuadalupe Sanchez
Miss Philippines 1974		46 to 87
[1973 to 1974]
AmparoAmparo Muñoz (of Spain)
Miss Universe 1974		127 to 689
[1973 to 1974]
CharleneCharlene Gonzales
Miss Philippines 1994		1,345 to 4,178
[1993 to 1994]
SushmitaSushmita Sen (of India)
Miss Universe 1994		3 to 535
[1993 to 1994]

And in 1969, 1973, and 2015, the delegate from the Philippines was the winner of the pageant:

NameDelegateUsage increase (baby girls)
GloriaGloria Diaz
Miss Universe 1969		3,100 to 3,413
[1968 to 1969]
Margarita or Margie
(not specified)		Margarita “Margie” Moran
Miss Universe 1973		1,706 to 2,351
[1972 to 1973]
PiaPia Wurtzbach
Miss Universe 2015		621 to 925
[2015 to 2016]

A fourth Filipina, Catriona Gray, won Miss Universe (and likewise influenced baby names) in 2018.

Sources: Most Common Baby Names of 2022 – Philippine Statistics Authority (PDF), Registered Live Births in the Philippines, 2022 – Philippine Statistics Authority

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Philippines (public domain)

Popular baby names in Iceland, 2023

Flag of Iceland
Flag of Iceland

Last year, the island nation of Iceland welcomed over 4,200 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilía and Birnir.

Below are Iceland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023. (Please note that I created these two gendered sets of rankings from the single non-gendered set of rankings that Iceland released.)

Girl names

  1. Emilía, 23 baby girls
  2. Sara, 22
  3. Aþena, 21 (3-way tie)
  4. Embla, 21 (3-way tie)
  5. Sóley, 21 (3-way tie)
  6. Emma, 20
  7. Katla, 19
  8. Eva, 18 (4-way tie)
  9. Lilja, 18 (4-way tie)
  10. Una, 18 (4-way tie)
  11. Viktoría, 18 (4-way tie)
  12. Anna, 16 (3-way tie)
  13. Bríet, 16 (3-way tie)
  14. Hekla, 16 (3-way tie) – inspired by Hekla, the name of one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes.
  15. Matthildur, 15 (tie)
  16. Salka, 15 (tie)
  17. Birta, 14 (3-way tie)
  18. Hafdís, 14 (3-way tie)
  19. Katrín, 14 (3-way tie)
  20. Andrea, 13 (3-way tie)
  21. Freyja, 13 (3-way tie)
  22. Natalía, 13 (3-way tie)
  23. Íris, 12 (4-way tie)
  24. Iðunn, 12 (4-way tie)
  25. Kristín, 12 (4-way tie)
  26. Móeiður, 12 (4-way tie)
  27. Ástrós, 11 (5-way tie)
  28. Fanney, 11 (5-way tie) – modern coinage created from elements meaning “snowdrift” and “island.”
  29. Hrafntinna, 11 (5-way tie)
  30. Saga, 11 (5-way tie)
  31. Ylfa, 11 (5-way tie)
  32. Elín, 10 (5-way tie)
  33. Heiðdís, 10 (5-way tie)
  34. Hildur, 10 (5-way tie)
  35. Júlía, 10 (5-way tie)
  36. Laufey, 10 (5-way tie)
  37. Amelía, 9 (12-way tie)
  38. Aría, 9 (12-way tie)
  39. Dagbjört, 9 (12-way tie)
  40. Glódís, 9 (12-way tie) – modern coinage created from elements meaning “to shine” and “goddess.”
  41. Helena, 9 (12-way tie)
  42. Ísabella, 9 (12-way tie)
  43. Karítas, 9 (12-way tie)
  44. Klara, 9 (12-way tie)
  45. Máney, 9 (12-way tie)
  46. María, 9 (12-way tie)
  47. Sigrún, 9 (12-way tie)
  48. Sóldís, 9 (12-way tie)
  49. Alexandra, 8 (9-way tie)
  50. Edda, 8 (9-way tie)
  51. Eldey, 8 (9-way tie)
  52. Harpa, 8 (9-way tie)
  53. Írena, 8 (9-way tie)
  54. Margrét, 8 (9-way tie)
  55. Rakel, 8 (9-way tie)
  56. Ronja, 8 (9-way tie)
  57. Þórdís, 8 (9-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Birnir, 30 baby boys
  2. Emil, 28
  3. Elmar, 25 (tie)
  4. Jón, 25 (tie)
  5. Óliver 24
  6. Aron, 23
  7. Viktor, 22
  8. Jökull, 21
  9. Alexander, 20
  10. Atlas, 19
  11. Gunnar, 18
  12. Baldur, 17 (tie)
  13. Mikael, 17 (tie)
  14. Breki, 16 (3-way tie) – derived from an Old Norse word meaning “breaker.”
  15. Styrmir, 16 (3-way tie)
  16. Theodór, 16 (3-way tie)
  17. Arnar, 15 (3-way tie)
  18. Kári, 15 (3-way tie)
  19. Óðinn, 15 (3-way tie)
  20. Baltasar, 14 (3-way tie)
  21. Elías, 14 (3-way tie)
  22. Huginn, 14 (3-way tie)
  23. Daníel, 13 (4-way tie)
  24. Hilmir, 13 (4-way tie)
  25. Ísak, 13 (4-way tie)
  26. Úlfur, 13 (4-way tie)
  27. Gabríel, 12 (4-way tie)
  28. Guðmundur, 12 (4-way tie)
  29. Ólafur, 12 (4-way tie)
  30. Tómas, 12 (4-way tie)
  31. Ari, 11 (11-way tie)
  32. Benedikt, 11 (11-way tie)
  33. Benjamín, 11 (11-way tie)
  34. Björn, 11 (11-way tie)
  35. Brynjar, 11 (11-way tie)
  36. Dagur, 11 (11-way tie)
  37. Erik, 11 (11-way tie)
  38. Kristján, 11 (11-way tie)
  39. Kristófer, 11 (11-way tie)
  40. Matthías, 11 (11-way tie)
  41. Sigurður, 11 (11-way tie)
  42. Anton, 10 (7-way tie)
  43. Atli, 10 (7-way tie)
  44. Ágúst, 10 (7-way tie)
  45. Hinrik, 10 (7-way tie)
  46. Jóhann, 10 (7-way tie)
  47. Magnús, 10 (7-way tie)
  48. Stefán, 10 (7-way tie)
  49. Adam, 9 (8-way tie)
  50. Bergur, 9 (8-way tie)
  51. Birkir, 9 (8-way tie)
  52. Leó, 9 (8-way tie)
  53. Máni, 9 (8-way tie)
  54. Óskar, 9 (8-way tie)
  55. Stormur, 9 (8-way tie)
  56. Tristan, 9 (8-way tie)

Interesting names from outside the top 50 include…

  • Rökkvi (masculine name, given to 8 babies), which may mean “twilight.”
  • Kolbrá (fem., 5 babies), a modern coinage created from elements meaning “black, dark” and “eyelash.”
  • Hrafnkatla (fem., 3 babies), the feminine form of Hrafnkell, which is made up of elements meaning “raven” and “cauldron.”
  • Tindur (masc., 3 babies), derived from an Old Norse word meaning “spike,” “tooth,” “mountain peak.”
  • Þráinn (masc., 3 babies), based on an Old Norse word meaning “obstinacy.”
  • Krummi (masc., 2 babies), which could mean either “bent, crooked” or “raven.”

And what about the single-use names?

Over 980 names were bestowed just once in Iceland last year. Here’s a sampling of Iceland’s unique baby names of 2023:

Apolonia, Broteva, Dofri, Esjar, Friðþjófur, Gígja, Gíslason, Hlín, Indriði, Jóvin, Kjalar, Myrkár, Náttey, Ösp, Possible, Röskva, Spói, Torfi, Undína, Völundur, Yndís, Zebbý

Here are simplified definitions for a few of the above…

  • Friðþjófur (masc.), made up of elements meaning “peace” and “thief”
    • A name that means “peace thief” seems very appropriate for a newborn baby. :)
  • Gígja (fem.), meaning “fiddle.”
  • Ösp (fem.), meaning “aspen tree.”
  • Röskva (fem.), meaning “vigorous,” “brave.”
  • Spói (masc.), from the Icelandic word spói, which refers to the whimbrel (a type of bird).

Gíslason — a surname that was likely used as a masculine forename (given that -son ending) — may have been inspired by Icelandic soccer player Rúrik Gíslason.

I didn’t post about Iceland’s top baby names of 2022, but here are Iceland’s 2021 rankings.

Sources: Vinsælustu nöfnin 2023 – Þjóðskrá, Births – Statistics Iceland, Nordic Names, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iceland (public domain)