Last year, the most people were called Olivia and Lucas/Lukas, the recent name statistics show Statistics Norway. It is the first time that Olivia is at the top of the national statistics.
494 were named Lucas/Lukas and 366 were named Olivia in 2023. Lucas has been on the list for 17 years, while Olivia has been on the top list for nine years.
Emma is in a good second place, the same position as in 2022, while Noah/Noa, who was first in 2022, is down to second place.
See the top ten list a little further down in the matter. See also the lists of regional differences and search the top 50 overview.
Some newcomers
The new list shows some differences from last year, for the girls Alma and Ada have joined, and have pushed Iben and Frida out. For the name Alma, according to SSB, it is a historic debut, and the very first time it is on the top list. Alma was quite common in the early 20th century.
For the boys, Elias, Casper and Teodor are new names on the top list, and they pushed out William, Filip and Aksel from 2022.
A common denominator for the ten most popular girls’ names is that all but Sofie end in the letter A.
– This is a trend we have seen over many years, that names with vowels and few consonants are increasing in popularity. Especially this with the A endings is a clear trend. This year we see even more clearly that the top names for girls almost exclusively end in the letter A, says Anders Sønstebø in a press release. He is a senior advisor in the section for population statistics in Statistics Norway.
Top ten girl names in 2023
Olivia
Emma
Ella
Leah/Lea
Sofie/Sophie
Nora/Norah/Noora
Sofia/Sophia
Maja/Maia/Maya
Alma
Ada
Source: Statistics Norway
Top ten boy names in 2023
Lucas/Lukas
Noah
Isaac/Isaac/Isaac
Oliver
Kasper/Casper
Elias
Emil
Jakob/Jacob
Oscar/Oscar
Theodore/Theodore
Source: Statistics Norway
– Surprised by rapid changes
Name researcher Ivar Utne at the University of Bergen says he is surprised that Nora and Jakob have fallen so far down the lists. Both had first place in 2022 and fell to 6th and 8th place respectively in 2023.
– I had probably expected that such stable names at the top would move down a little more slowly, says Utne.
He is also surprised that Lucas has come back up.
– I assumed that it was on the way down, because it primarily peaked around 10-15 years ago, and has been weaker since then, he says.
But he is not surprised by this year’s top name, at least not Olivia, who he himself had tipped as number one.
– I tipped Noah as first place for the boys, but he came second. Both names have been on the rise in Norway for several years, and they are very strong in many other countries. It is part of an international trend, says Utne.
These are the most used girl and boy names in each county last year: Show more ↓
OSLO:
Girl:
1. Hennie
2. Eva
3. Sofia
4. Son
5. House
6. Frida
7. Sara
8. Alma
9. Ada
10. Astrid
All right:
1. Mohammed
2. Jacob
3. Theodor
4. Filip
5. Olav
6. Axle
7. Lucas
8. Alfred
9. Gustav
10. Elias
ROGALAND
Girl:
1. Ella
2. Olivia
3. Emma
4. Mia
5. Sofie
6. Leah
7. Emilie
8. Hanna
9. Sara
10. Sofia
All right:
1. Lucas
2. Oliver
3. Tobias
4. Magnus
5. Oscar
6. Elias
7. Johannes
8. Noah
9. Kasper
10. Theodor
MØRE AND ROMSDAL
Girl:
1. Leah
2. Ella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Son
6. Selma
7. Amalie
8. Mia
9. Sofie
10. Close
All right:
1. Lucas
2. Isak
3. Olav
4. Johannes
5. Birk
6. Kasper
7. Liam
8. Mateo
9. Noah
10. William
NORTHLAND
Girl:
1. Ella
2. Frida
3. Mathilde
4. Selma
5. Nora
6. Savage
7. Ellinor
8. Ada
9. Astrid
10. Sofie
All right:
1. Lucas
2. Kasper
3. Oliver
4. William
5. Elias
6. Louis
7. Matthew
8. Ulrik
9. Emil
10. Henrik
VIKEN
Girl:
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Nora
4. Leah
5. Leah
6. House
7. Sofie
8. Sofia
9. Alma
10. Ada
All right:
1. Noah
2. Lucas
3. William
4. Kasper
5. Oliver
6. Oskar
7. Theodor
8. Jakob
9. Filip
10. Axle
VESTFOLD AND TELEMARK
Girl:
1. Nora
2. Olivia
3. Sofie
4. Sofia
5. Emma
6. Ada
7. Leah
8. Frida
9. Alma
10. Selma
All right:
1. Lucas
2. Noah
3. Emil
4. Oliver
5. Filip
6. Liam
7. Louis
8. William
9. Isak
10. Theodor
INLAND
Girl:
1. Aurora
2. Ingrid
3. Alma
4. Son
5. Tiril
6. Amalie
7. Hedvig
8. Sofie
9. Selma
10. Ellinor
All right:
1. Lucas
2. Even
3. Emil
4. Kasper
5. Isak
6. Henrik
7. Iver
8. Johannes
9. Elias
10. Oliver
AGDER
Girl:
1. Leah
2. Olivia
3. Ella
4. Sofie
5. Nora
6. Amalie
7. Emma
8. Hanna
9. Mie
10. Ada
All right:
1. Isak
2. Liam
3. Lucas
4. Noah
5. William
6. Elias
7. Jakob
8. Tobias
9. Kasper
10. Oliver
WESTLAND
Girl:
1. Emma
2. Leah
3. Olivia
4. Ada
5. House
6. Sofia
7. Well
8. Frida
9. Hedda
10. Ella
All right:
1. Lucas
2. Elias
3. Johannes
4. Noah
5. Isak
6. Emil
7. Jakob
8. Oskar
9. Theodor
10. Louis
TRÓNDELAG
Girl:
1. Hedda
2. Sofie
3. Nora
4. Emma
5. Many
6. Ada
7. Alma
8. Aurora
9. Ella
10. Leah
All right:
1. Isak
2. Lucas
3. Emil
4. Noah
5. Oliver
6. Kasper
7. Magnus
8. Johannes
9. Iver
10. Henrik
TROMS AND FINNMARK
Girl:
1. Ella
2. Alma
3. Leah
4. Aurora
5. Olivia
6. Sofie
7. Ada
8. Anna
9. Emilie
10. Selma
All right:
1. Henrik
2. Isak
3. Lucas
4. Oskar
5. Johannes
6. Ulrik
7. Iver
8. Olav
9. Jakob
10. Kasper
Nevertheless, he thinks it is a bit special that names with such little old Norwegian tradition come out on top. Many of the names in the top ten are widely used in the countries around us and in the United States.
– This probably means that parents are a lot inspired by sounds and are quite international at the moment, he believes.
Ivar Utne is a name researcher at the University of Bergen.
Photo: Private
Ivar Utne is a name researcher at the University of Bergen. Photo: Private
In Oslo, it is Hennie who towers over the top for the girls.
– It is a little surprising. But the name has the well-liked N-en. And original English pet names are well liked now, including names that were in use with us in the early 20th century, says the name researcher.
Top 50 girl and boy names
Below you can search in the top 50 to look at more names and check whether your name or names in the family are on that list and how many people got the name in 2023.