Language
These are the most popular baby names in 2023
The first name duo Sophia and Sophie as well as Noah top the list of the most popular first names in 2023. photo
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
Even if the top list of the most popular first names for babies remains very stable – there will be a change at the top in 2023, albeit very close. Two newcomers move into the top ten.
Sophia and Noah lead the list of most popular in 2023 baby names. This means that Emilia, the long-time leader in first names for girls, was relegated to second place – but by a very narrow margin, as the Society for the German Language (GfdS) in Wiesbaden announced. “There are just four awards between the first and second-placed names, so they can both be seen as front runners.”
According to the Wiesbaden-based club, Sophia tops the list for the first time; the name has worked its way up place by place in recent years. The spelling Sofia is also included. Emma came in third place for the girls.
Noah has been in the top position among boys since 2019, followed by Mattheo (in different spellings) and Leon in 2023. The rising stars of the year include Lia/Liah for the girls and Liam for the boys. The names made it into the top ten most popular names for the first time. In contrast, Finn (2022: 4th place) has dropped out of the top ten.
Comeback for “Michael” – at least as a second name
“The first name hit list remains stable overall,” said GfdS managing director Andrea-Eva Ewels. There are still many short, soft-sounding names such as Mia, Ella, Paul and Emil. Around 63 percent of children are given a first name by their parents, as Ewels explained. However, the percentage of babies with two first names tends to increase – to more than a third. Three first names or more are still the exception.
The top list of all boys’ middle names is seeing a comeback from the 1970s and 1980s, said Ewels. Here, for example, Michael came in 13th place, Johannes in 21st place and Andreas in 22nd place. Michael in particular had been on the rise for several years, said the managing director.
The German Language Society has been publishing lists of the most popular first names since 1977. According to the information, around 750 registry offices nationwide submitted almost 900,000 individual names for the 2023 evaluation. This means that more than 90 percent of all first names given last year were recorded. Almost 70,000 different names were reported.
According to an evaluation by hobby name researcher Knud Bielefeld last December, Emilia and Noah were the most popular baby names in 2023. According to its own information, Bielefeld has recorded around 280,000 birth reports; two thirds of the information comes from registry offices and the rest from baby galleries in maternity hospitals. But not everyone likes his name.
Names can only be changed for important reasons
If someone is unhappy with their first name, changing it is possible, but in most cases it’s not that easy. An important reason must be proven for this, said Frank Müsken from the Association of Hessian Registrars. This could be the case if someone is teasing you.
Other important reasons can be bad experiences related to the namesake. This is often sexual abuse, explained Müsken. A first name can then be changed after an application to the regulatory authority. There is no important reason why someone says they have a strange first name that they have to spell every time.
But: “It is always a case-by-case decision whether a name change is possible or not,” emphasized Müsken. Overall, however, such cases are extremely rare. In the Kassel registry office, everyone fit into a normal-width file folder – and it was created in 1978.
In India, a newspaper advertisement is enough to change your name
Müsken added that these rather strict rules apply to Germans who were born in Germany. However, if, for example, the birth of a Spanish citizen is certified at a German registry office, then Spanish law applies to the question of a change. In other countries this is much easier. “In India or Nigeria, I have to announce in a national newspaper that I would like to be called something different from so and so on. And if no one objects to that, then my name will be different,” explained Müsken.
When naturalizing in Germany, someone is allowed to change their name again if necessary, the registrar explained, citing a Pole with the first name Pawel as an example. “Through naturalization he could say: I’m turning Pawel into Paul.” Paul landed at number 4 on the list of most popular baby names in 2023.