The most popular boys’ names in Finland during the 2010s were Elias, Onni and Leo, while Sofia, Emma and Aino topped the charts for girls.
Parents also seem keener than before to choose names that work in different languages and cultures.
The most popular names overall during the 2010s were Maria and Juhani, but these were mainly used as middle names.
That’s according to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, which publishes information about names.
The dataset does not include 2019, as Finnish parents have three months after the birth of their child to officially register a name. Traditionally Finnish first names have been kept secret until a child is baptised.
Data from the full decade, including 2019, will be available in March.
Internationalisation proceeds apace
Minna Saarelma-Paukkala of the University of Helsinki Almanac Office, which publishes information on naming data along with the Finnish calendar of ‘name days’ each year, says that names have become more homogenous across Europe.
Sofia is one name that is currently popular in several European countries.
"Naming trends jump from country to country noticeably quicker than before," said Saarelma-Paukkala.
Parents now often try to give their children names which are easy to say in a foreign language, avoiding tricky umlauted vowels and the notorious Finnish double consonants that make pronunciation more difficult for foreigners.
Common names that fit that particular bill include Noel, Benjamin and Luka.
Popular culture also has an influence on which names are popular. For instance Eeli and Erin have become more popular as names in recent years, perhaps due to the prominence of hockey player Eeli Tolvanen and singer Erin Anttila.
New naming law, new options
Another trend in the 2010s was a desire to give children unique names. Around five percent of babies are given names entirely new to the Finnish naming register.
"A name can be entirely invented by the parents or it could be based on already-existing names but in a new form with a different spelling or by adding new elements," said Lauri Mattila of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
The Names Board, which is a committee under the Justice Ministry, maintains a register of permissible names, and it must approve any new additions.
The rules are changing, however. A new law came into force in January giving parents more freedom to choose first names. Children can now be given four first names, which is a common practice in some cultures.
The new law also allows parents to choose names that are not already registered with the Names Board so long as they are already used by at least five people of the same gender in the country. In practice, this eases the adoption of names from other cultures when there is already a population who have moved to Finland.
"A new name must however be appropriate for a first name," said Mattila. "In evaluating the acceptance of a first name the child’s interests have to be taken into account."
Baby boomers’ names coming back
Parents generally avoid giving their own or their grandparents names to their children, but after about 80-100 years names start to make a comeback, according to Saarelma-Paukkala.
"A strong prediction is that names from the large age cohorts born in the 1940s, like Reino and Marja, will start to come back in the 2020s," said Saarelma-Paukkala.
Nature-themed names are also favoured now, and their popularity will likely continue.
"If you look at girls’ names, there are lots of beautiful names from nature like Lumi (snow in English), Suvi (summer) and Lilja (lily). Boys sometimes get names related to animals or natural phenomena, like Otso (bear) or Pyry (blizzard)," said Saarelma-Paukkala.
