These are Norway's most popular kids' names
Norway has new official most popular baby names for both boys and girls after the 2017 totals were announced.
Sofie and Jakob were the top choices in 2017. Lavrans moved up the list, whilst previous favourite William slipped back, as did Nora, the top choice for baby girls in 2016.
Figures for most common names given to infants in 2017 were released by Statistics Norway on Wednesday.
412 children were called Sofie last year, while 424 were given the name Jakob.
"Both Sofie and Jakob have had a classic swing in popularity for names," senior advisor Jørgen Ouren said via the Statistics Norway website.
The two names were extremely popular at the beginning of the 20th century, then fell almost completely out of use before seeing a modern return to popularity, Ouren said.
Sofie og Jakob topper navnestatistikken for i fjor. Her er navnene flest barn fikk i 2017. https://t.co/cVFptYhoRt pic.twitter.com/oVGrO4NZ8S
— SSB (@ssbnytt) January 24, 2018
The third-most favoured girl's name was Emma.
William, which has been the top choice for boys for a number of years, dropped all the way down to sixth on the 2017 list.
Lukas and Emil join Jakob in completing the top three.
The most common name also varies according to regional district, Statistics Norway writes.
"Even though Jakob is the most popular name overall in Norway, Hordaland and Troms are the only districts in which it is top of the list," Ouren said.
Mohammed in its various forms of Latinised spelling is top of the list in Oslo, as it has been for a number of years. This reflects the relatively high proportion of people with minority backgrounds in the capital as well as the particularly high incidence of that name within those demographics.
Sofia -- with an a -- is the most popular girl's name in Oslo, while overall Norwegian first choice Sofie (with an e) languishes in 20th place, a result "we do not have a good explanation for," writes Statistics Norway.
A carer at an Oslo daycare centre told NRK that the names appearing in the annual statistics were reflected in children attending the centre.
"There are a lot of Sofies and Mathildes. There has been a lot of Oscar at the daycare in the last ten years, the same for Lucas," Espen Verlo told NRK.
Top ten Norwegian names in 2017:
Girls:
-
Sofie/Sophie
-
Nora/Norah
-
Emma
-
Sara/Sahra/Sarah/Zara
-
Ella
-
Olivia
-
Maja/Maia/Maya
-
Emilie
-
Sofia/Sophia
-
Ingrid/Ingerid/Ingri
Boys:
-
Jakob/Jacob
-
Lucas/Lukas
-
Emil
-
Oskar/Oscar
-
Oliver
-
William
-
Filip/Fillip/Philip/Phillip
-
Noah/Noa
-
Elias
-
Isak/Isaac/Isac
READ ALSO: Norwegian football fan names daughter after Liverpool supporter song
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Sofie and Jakob were the top choices in 2017. Lavrans moved up the list, whilst previous favourite William slipped back, as did Nora, the top choice for baby girls in 2016.
Figures for most common names given to infants in 2017 were released by Statistics Norway on Wednesday.
412 children were called Sofie last year, while 424 were given the name Jakob.
"Both Sofie and Jakob have had a classic swing in popularity for names," senior advisor Jørgen Ouren said via the Statistics Norway website.
The two names were extremely popular at the beginning of the 20th century, then fell almost completely out of use before seeing a modern return to popularity, Ouren said.
Sofie og Jakob topper navnestatistikken for i fjor. Her er navnene flest barn fikk i 2017. https://t.co/cVFptYhoRt pic.twitter.com/oVGrO4NZ8S
— SSB (@ssbnytt) January 24, 2018
The third-most favoured girl's name was Emma.
William, which has been the top choice for boys for a number of years, dropped all the way down to sixth on the 2017 list.
Lukas and Emil join Jakob in completing the top three.
The most common name also varies according to regional district, Statistics Norway writes.
"Even though Jakob is the most popular name overall in Norway, Hordaland and Troms are the only districts in which it is top of the list," Ouren said.
Mohammed in its various forms of Latinised spelling is top of the list in Oslo, as it has been for a number of years. This reflects the relatively high proportion of people with minority backgrounds in the capital as well as the particularly high incidence of that name within those demographics.
Sofia -- with an a -- is the most popular girl's name in Oslo, while overall Norwegian first choice Sofie (with an e) languishes in 20th place, a result "we do not have a good explanation for," writes Statistics Norway.
A carer at an Oslo daycare centre told NRK that the names appearing in the annual statistics were reflected in children attending the centre.
"There are a lot of Sofies and Mathildes. There has been a lot of Oscar at the daycare in the last ten years, the same for Lucas," Espen Verlo told NRK.
Top ten Norwegian names in 2017:
Girls:
- Sofie/Sophie
- Nora/Norah
- Emma
- Sara/Sahra/Sarah/Zara
- Ella
- Olivia
- Maja/Maia/Maya
- Emilie
- Sofia/Sophia
- Ingrid/Ingerid/Ingri
Boys:
- Jakob/Jacob
- Lucas/Lukas
- Emil
- Oskar/Oscar
- Oliver
- William
- Filip/Fillip/Philip/Phillip
- Noah/Noa
- Elias
- Isak/Isaac/Isac
READ ALSO: Norwegian football fan names daughter after Liverpool supporter song
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