The first of Germany’s two annual popular baby name lists is here: the girl's name Emilia is still going strong, but those below her are still fighting for the top spot, and there has been a surprise upset in the list of top boy names. 

Emilia and Noah were the top baby names in 2022

After pondering the pages of endless baby name books, parents in Germany have indirectly chosen the top newborn names, and they haven’t strayed too far from those hitting the top spots last year. The first baby name ranking of the year - one of Germany’s two annual popular baby name lists - is gathered by hobbyist name researcher Knud Bielefeld.

Emilia has once again been crowned as the most popular girl’s baby name of 2022, while Noah knocked Matteo down one spot and claimed first place on the boy's list. The boys and girls names of the top 10 have not changed that much overall, but rather shuffled around a little: Mia, Sophia and Emma overtook Hannah, and Elias and Finn trumped a classic - Paul. 

Every year, Bielefeld and his team compile the ranking using data from 423 German cities - two-thirds of which comes from birth registrations, and the other third from baby galleries at maternity wards in hospitals. Bielefeld looked at around 250.000 birth announcements this year - around 34 percent of all babies born in Germany in 2022. 

Bielefeld’s assessment of the top baby names of 2022

According to Bielefeld’s findings, the consonant-heavy names, particularly those containing the letters M, N and L, are hip for both boys’ and girls’ names, Emilia being the perfect example. And the trends also have a geographical pattern, with Kurt proving a timeless classic in Saxony. To Bielefeld’s surprise, another, older name is making a comeback in the same federal state: Erwin. “For years no children were being called Erwin, but it's beginning to reemerge," Bielefeld told Tagesschau.

Bielefeld also pointed out that baby names chosen in the south tend to be longer, more traditional German names. Up north, however, young parents are moving towards the Scandinavian trend of shorter, more modern names.

Bielefeld makes his baby name predictions for 2023

Though Matteo has sunk a little down the rankings, Bielefeld correctly predicted its rise beforehand. And the hobbyist has a new prognosis, predicting that Nelio could possibly become Germany’s next on-trend name: “It's not yet in the top 10, but Nelio has climbed much higher,” Bielefeld told Tagesschau. The reason? “It is likely to do with the fact that the YouTuber Dagi Bee named her son that at the end of 2021.”

Another of Bielefeld’s pop culture observations was related to a certain controversial hit that was Germany’s official Ohrwurm of 2022. Layla by DJ Robin and Schürze tells the story of a brothel madam called Layla, who is said to be “schöner, jünger, geiler” than all the rest. According to Bielefeld’s findings, the hit is yet to capture the imaginations of Germany’s new parents: “It has hardly had any effect,” he remarked. Though there is always next time…

The top 10 baby names in Germany in 2022

According to Bielefeld’s research, the top baby names of 2022 were as follows:

10 most popular baby girls names in 2022

1. Emilia
2. Mia
3. Sophia
4. Emma
5. Hannah
6. Lina
7. Mila
8. Ella
9. Leni 
10. Clara

10 most popular baby boy names in 2022

1. Noah
2. Matteo
3. Elias
4. Finn
5. Leon
6. Theo
7. Paul
8. Emil
9. Henry
10. Ben

Popular baby names in Germany 2022

Though Germany doesn’t have any official statistics on baby names, aside from Bielefeld’s list, the German Language also reports on popular baby names every year in May.

Thumb image credit: Sopotnicki / Shutterstock.com