Europes Most Popular Baby Names May Prove The Inspiration Americans Need

Publish date: 2024-06-13

Parents have been seeking international inspiration for baby names for millennia — and names have been crossing borders and going global for just as long. Take the two most popular names in the United States: Olivia has topped the list nationally for girls since 2020 — but it first went from obscure to on-trend thanks to some 17th-century pop culture (William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night featured a beautiful heiress named Olivia). And Liam, which tops the boys name list in the U.S., is a centuries-old Irish twist on the German name William.

Letter Solver — a site that aims to help you solve crosswords, Wordle, anagrams, and more — set out to identify the most popular baby names worldwide by conducting “manual research in every country’s native language.”

“We only include reputable reports that include analysis of baby naming trends,” the site explains, prioritizing “reports from the previous 12 months” where possible.

While you won’t find Liam anywhere on Letter Solver’s map of Europe’s most popular names, the second-most-popular boy name in the U.S. — Noah, with roots in the Hebrew word for “rest” — is the top pick in six countries, including Scotland, Germany, and Switzerland. (Outside the U.S., Liam is also the most popular boy’s name in Peru and Ecuador.)

And while the reign of Olivia continues in the U.S., it’s also the most popular baby name for girls in England, Wales, Scotland, Belgium and Finland. The second most popular girl’s name in the U.S. — Emma — also pops up everywhere from Luxembourg to Monaco.

But there are dozens of other names topping the lists — Noel, Marie, Luka, Jade, Hanna, Astrid, and many others — that are less commonly used in the U.S. and that might provide the inspiration parents need. And some of the names on the list (like Slovenia’s Ema, or Liechtenstein’s Emilia) might give you inspiration to give your baby an alternatively spelled name.

Here are the most popular boy and girl names in Europe:

To check out the full list of the most popular baby names around the world, head to Letter Solver.

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