As we eagerly await the revelation of what the top names were in the US last year, we thought it might be fun to see what international faves were heading the lists in other parts of the world. Which American favorites were also among the three preferred choices in other countries (Jacob in Argentina, Noah in Belgium)? And which names shone internationally in their local variations (eg Lucas, Lukas, Luka). Are there some less familiar names worthy of importing (Florencia? Zuzanna? Noam?).
We’ve taken a look at the three highest-ranking names across the globe in the last year counted and here are the most interesting results, with the American rankings for comparison.
Girls
Alice—#2 in Sweden (Number 172 in the US)
Ava—#3 in Scotland (Number 5 in the US)
Aya—top name in Libya
Catalina, #3 in Chile
Chloe—# 3 in Australia (Number 9 in the US)
Constanza, #2 in Chile
Emily—#2 in Ireland (Number 6 in the US)
Emma—top name in France, Belgium and Norway, #3 in Netherlands and Ireland (Number 3 in the US)
Florencia—top name in Uruguay, #3 in Chile
Isabella—top name in Denmark and Australia (top name in the US)
Julia—top name in Poland, #2 in Netherlands, #3 in Brazil and Sweden (Number 55 in the US)
Léa—top name in Quebec, #3 in Belgium
Louise—#2 in Belgium
Lucia—top name in Spain
Maja—top name in Sweden (Number 67 in the US)
Maria—top name in Brazil (Number 86 in the US)
Mariam—#3 in Tunisia
Martina—top name in Chile
Maya—# 3 in Israel (Number 67 in the US)
Mia—#1 in Puerto Rico (Number 10 in the US)
Nora—# 3 in Norway (Number 159 in the US)
Olivia—top name in England and Ontario, #2 in Scotland (Number 4 in the US)
Ruby—# 2 in Australia (Number 113 in the US)
Sophie— top name in Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, #2 in Norway (Sophie is 59 in the US, Sophia #2)
Valentina— top name in Argentina (Number 152 in the US)
Valeria—#2 in Mexico
Ximena–#3 in Mexico
Zuzanna—#3 in Poland
Boys
Azia—top name in Tunisia
Ben—top name in Germany
Benjamin—top name in Chile (Number 22 in the US)
Diego–#2 in Mexico
Dimitrios—#3 in Greece
Elias—top name in Finland
Emil—top name in Norway
Gabriel—#3 in Brazil (Number 21 in the US)
Giorgios—top name in Greece
Harry—#3 in the UK (Number 658 in the US)
Itai–#2 in Israel
Jack—#2 in the UK and Australia (Number 44 in the US)
Jacob—#2 in Argentina (top name in the US)
Jakob—top name in Czech Republic
Konstantinos—#2 in Greece
Leon—#2 in Germany
Lucas—(#2 in Netherlands, Belgium and France; Lucas/Lukas–#3 in Germany and Sweden (Number 35 in the US),
Luis —top name in Mexico
Luka—top name in Croatia
Marko—#3 in Croatia
Mathias—#2 in Norway
Matías–#3 in Chile
Maximilian—top name in Austria
Miguel Angel— top name in Mexico (Michael is Number 3 in the US)
Nathan—top name in France, #3 in Belgium (Number 27 in the US)
Nicolás—# 3 in Uruguay (Nicholas is Number 38 in the US)
Noah—top name in Belgium (Number 7 in the US)
Oliver–top name in the UK, #3 in Australia (Number 88 in the US)
Oscar—top name in Sweden (Number 147 in the US)
Ren—top name in Japan
Santiago—#2 in Uruguay
Sem—top name in Netherlands
Tobias—#3 in Austria (Number 519 in the US)
Tomás—# 3 in the Czech Republic (Thomas is Number 62 in the US)
Vicente—#2 in Chile
William—top name in Australia and Denmark, #2 in Sweden, #3 in Norway (Number 5 in the US)
ANYTHING STRIKE YOU AS SURPRISING?
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comments
19 Responses to “International Faves: Top names across the globe”
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Alexandra.Iseult Says:
thetxbelle Says:
It’s interesting to see how globalization has affected naming, but it’s also a little depressing to me.
OT am I the only one having trouble posting comments? Hope I havent repeat posted here.
Noetje Says:
I’m not really sure why it’s depressing to have a name that’s popular halfway across the globe, but not where you live. I’m not really sure why it’s depressing to have a popular name. These are current statistics and are not for our generation.
scribe Says:
Wonderful. I’m excited to see what the new top names are. 🙂
moxielove Says:
Amazed at Emma’s dominance in the western world.
I would have also liked to have seen many more eastern (for lack of a better term) names here, from Tibet, Iran, Thailand etc. etc. Not sure why these wouldn’t be considered “interesting” except as a judgent (likely an accurate one) of their lack of cross-over potential
SoDallas3 Says:
I agree with Chloe! I actually hate the name because in Australia it is everywhere.
Poppy528 Says:
I love Mariam and Emil best. Ren is really cute! Uri, I guess short for Urijah, is growing on me since dear hubby has me watching the Ultimate Fighter show recently.
Camila, Morena, and Jazmin are just too close to birth control brand names for me. That would be an awkward sibset.
Chiara Says:
Actually Giulia is no longer the top name in Italy. As of 2010, it has been replaced by Sofia
rosamonte Says:
I have stumbled across that list online that shows Jacob as a top name in Argentina, too, but that list is definitely incorrect.
Samantha-Bianca Says:
It’s no surprise that Harry is popular in the UK and William is popular in Australia. That’s our Crown Prince and his hot-ginger brother!! Haha.
Same could be said about Denmark and the name Isabella. They love their royals, too, and Isabella is a family name for them, and the name of Crown Prince Frederik & Princess Mary’s (an Aussie!!) eldest daughter.
Isabella’s popularity elsewhere is due to one thing…Twilight, lol.
Sarah.Jane Says:
I love the variety on this list!
I am not surprised that Julia is popular in Poland because I have three polish friends in the US who have named their daughters (under 2) Julia.
I hope the US list has some diversity in it this year.
mermuse Says:
Ian is #3 for boys in Puerto Rico? Does that seem completely strange to anyone else?
babynamesrule Says:
VERY cool list! I agree, Ian is quite surprising. And Miguel Angel is oddly specific.
katybug Says:
I’m surprised by Jazmin in Argentina, Ian in Puerto Rico, and Miguel Angel in Mexico. I also wonder of you add the Camilas and Kamilas together if they outnumber the Sofias in Puerto Rico.
Rin Says:
Ruby is #1 in New Zealand at the moment, Olivia is #2 and Sophie has dropped to #3.
Triplicate Says:
I agree with moxie. I really want to see name data for more countries not dominated by Europeans and their languages. Particularly for China and India, since there should be more babies there than anywhere else. I know China at least does care about such data – remember their issue with non-standard characters in names?
miloowen Says:
I love Noam….Uri is a name in itself, and also a nn for Uriel, one of the archangels. Miguel Angel is very similar to Jose Maria and Gian Battista, names that are only complete with the second part: St Michael the Archangel, Joseph and Mary, St John the Baptist.
QuirkFlower Says:
The ubiquitousness of Emma, Julia and Sophie is stunning!
notsoclevername Says:
Just ‘cus I’m a sucker for a good Z name I like Zuzanna.
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I have to say, it was a bit depressing seeing Giulia as the top name in Italy. Having a popular first name, I always took pride in having that as an unpopular and unique middle name, but apparently it’s not that special.