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Olivia and Leo Finland's most popular baby names in 2021

The list reveals some new trends, but traditional names also remain popular.

Pikkuvauvan käsi äidin kämmenellä.
Some 312 girls born in Finland last year were given the name Olivia, while a total of 297 newborn boys were called Leo. Image: Nella Nuora / Yle
Yle News

Olivia and Leo were the most popular names given to newborn babies in Finland last year.

Lilja, Eevi, Sofia and Venla were also common first names given to newborn girls, while Eino, Oliver, Elias and Väinö were among the top choices for boys.

The latest list of popular names revealed no major changes from previous years — although 'Aino' dropped to sixth position last year having been the most popular name for girls in 2020.

The order of the first four most popular boys' names remained unchanged from 2020.

Among Finland's Swedish-speaking community, the top names were Saga for girls and Liam for boys.

Older and newer trends

The latest list of popular names shows a continuing trend for parents to choose names beginning with the letter 'E' — such as Eevi, Emma, Eino and Elias — while there is also an increasing number of newborns being given unique names.

"Many of them are nature-related, such as Havu (Sprig), Vadelma (Raspberry), Skysy (Autumn) or Tyrsky (Wave). Many new names are also created on the basis of older names, such as snow (Lumi) related ones like Lumia, Lumiina and Lumitähti", according to University of Helsinki researcher Minna Saarelma-Paukkala.

She added that many traditional names have also retained their popularity, such as Lilja, Aino, Helmi, Eino, Väinö and Onni, and predicted that names from the 1940s — particularly ones beginning with the letter 'R' such as Ritva and Raimo may come back into fashion in the coming years.

"Maybe some of them will become more common again. Reino, for example, has already risen into the top 100," she noted.

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