Wiesbaden
Sophia and Noah top the list of most popular baby names in 2023. This means that Emilia, the long-time leader in first names for girls, has been relegated to second place – but by a very narrow margin, as the Association for the German Language (GfdS) in Wiesbaden has announced. “There are only four prizes between first and second place, so they can both be seen as frontrunners.”
According to the club from Wiesbaden, Sophia is at the top of the list for the first time; the name has risen place by place in recent years. The spelling Sofia is also included. Emma came third among the girls.
Noah has held the top position among boys since 2019, followed by Mattheo (in various spellings) and Leon in 2023. The year’s newcomers include Lia/Liah for the girls and Liam for the boys. The names were in the top ten of most popular names for the first time. In contrast, Finn (2022: 4th place) has fallen out of the top ten.
Comeback for “Michael” – at least as a middle name
“The hit list with first names remains generally stable,” says GfdS director Andrea-Eva Ewels. There are still many short, soft-sounding names such as Mia, Ella, Paul and Emil. About 63 percent of children receive a first name from their parents, as Ewels explains. However, the percentage of babies with two first names tends to increase: to well over a third. Three first names or more are still an exception.
The top list of all boys’ names is experiencing a comeback from the 1970s and 1980s, Ewels said. 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, according to the director.
The German Language Association has published lists of the most popular first names since 1977. According to the information, approximately 750 registration offices nationwide have submitted nearly 900,000 individual names for the 2023 evaluation. This means that more than 90 percent of all first names given last year have been included. Nearly 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 his own information, Bielefeld has registered approximately 280,000 birth reports; two-thirds of the information comes from the registry office 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 not happy with their first name, it is possible to change it, but in most cases this is not so easy. An important reason for this must be proven, says Frank Müsken of the Association of Hessian Registrars. This can be the case if someone teases you.
Other important reasons may be bad experiences related to the namesake. It often concerns sexual abuse, Müsken explains. A first name can then be changed after an application to the supervisor. There is no major 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,” Müsken emphasized. Overall, however, such cases are extremely rare. In the Kassel registration office, everyone fit into a normal-width file folder – and it was created in 1978.
In India, an advertisement in the newspaper is enough to change your name
Müsken added that these fairly strict rules apply to Germans born in Germany. However, if, for example, the birth of a Spanish citizen is certified at a German registration office, then Spanish law will apply to the issue 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 and so on. And if no one objects to that, then my name will be different,” Müsken explains.
Upon naturalization in Germany, a person is allowed to change his name again – if necessary, the official explained and gave the example of a Pole with the first name Pawel. “Through naturalization he could say: I am turning Pawel into Paul.” Paul landed at number 4 on the list of most popular baby names in 2023.
An announcement: This report is part of an automated service of the German Press Agency (dpa), which operates according to strict journalistic rules. It is not edited or controlled by the AZ online editors. Feel free to send questions and comments feedback@az-muenchen.de