Maryam now Sweden's fastest growing name
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Published: 31 Jan, 2018 CET.
Updated: Wed 31 Jan 2018 13:11 CET
The Middle Eastern girls' name Maryam is now the fastest growing name in Sweden among newborns, up 70 percent on last year, according to new figures from Statistics Sweden.
Maryam was one of seven new entries to the list of Sweden's 100 most popular girls' names for newborns included in a press release from the agency on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the full figures on February 27th.
No fewer than 177 newborns were given the name, shooting it straight into 78th place, ahead of the other new entrants Noomi, Hedvig, Mira, Zoey, Idun, and Melina.
Maryam is the form taken by the name Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Arabic, Farsi, Somali, and other languages, and is popular among both Christians and Muslims across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and North Africa.
"It's the most fast-growing name for girls but I don't know why," Margareta Carlsson, from Statistics Sweden told The Local. "I can't see a celebrity named Maryam. I don't have any guess even."
In 2015 the name Saga shot from 21st to fourth most popular name, likely as a result of Nordic Noir heroine Saga Norén in 'The Bridge'. However, Carlsson said it was unusual for a name to see such rapid growth, with name popularity tending to shift gradually from generation to generation.
Three new boys' names joined the top 100, led by Levi and Vide, which entered the list in joint 98th place, with the third name, Neo, just managing to slip in after them.
Matteo was the fastest growing boy's name, seeing a 33 percent increase on last year.
Lovisa and Ville, meanwhile, were the two names which fell most out of favour, with the number of new Lovisas falling 34 percent and Villes 24 percent.
The name Alice retained last year's spot as the most popular girl's name in Sweden with 888 newborns, while long-time favourite William regained its place as the most popular boy's name, with 941 newborns, after slipping to third place last year.
Oscar, last year's favourite, was knocked into second place.
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Maryam was one of seven new entries to the list of Sweden's 100 most popular girls' names for newborns included in a press release from the agency on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the full figures on February 27th.
No fewer than 177 newborns were given the name, shooting it straight into 78th place, ahead of the other new entrants Noomi, Hedvig, Mira, Zoey, Idun, and Melina.
Maryam is the form taken by the name Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Arabic, Farsi, Somali, and other languages, and is popular among both Christians and Muslims across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and North Africa.
"It's the most fast-growing name for girls but I don't know why," Margareta Carlsson, from Statistics Sweden told The Local. "I can't see a celebrity named Maryam. I don't have any guess even."
In 2015 the name Saga shot from 21st to fourth most popular name, likely as a result of Nordic Noir heroine Saga Norén in 'The Bridge'. However, Carlsson said it was unusual for a name to see such rapid growth, with name popularity tending to shift gradually from generation to generation.
Three new boys' names joined the top 100, led by Levi and Vide, which entered the list in joint 98th place, with the third name, Neo, just managing to slip in after them.
Matteo was the fastest growing boy's name, seeing a 33 percent increase on last year.
Lovisa and Ville, meanwhile, were the two names which fell most out of favour, with the number of new Lovisas falling 34 percent and Villes 24 percent.
The name Alice retained last year's spot as the most popular girl's name in Sweden with 888 newborns, while long-time favourite William regained its place as the most popular boy's name, with 941 newborns, after slipping to third place last year.
Oscar, last year's favourite, was knocked into second place.
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