Emilia and Noah are the most frequently assigned first names in Germany for the second time in a row. In the other places of the top ten first names in 2022, Marie and Henry are also returnees, as the Society for the German Language (GfdS) announced in Wiesbaden on Monday.
What is striking among the girls is Hanna's withdrawal: Three years ago, the name reached the top spot, now it is in fifth place. In the boys' race, on the other hand, it is Luca in seventh place who is retiring, making room for Elias and Emil, who are each making up one place. Lea and Felix were completely displaced.
With Noah, Sophia, Emma and Leon, among others, the lists of the most popular boy and girl names are very stable, which is due to common trends. Many of the first names are therefore short, contain bright vowels such as "e" and "i" or those that meet in different language syllables. The current favorite initial letters are "E", "M" and "L".
In Berlin, the most popular first name for boys in 2022 was Mohammed – replacing Noah, who slipped to second place. Adam landed in third place. Among girls, the most popular in the capital was Sophia, followed by Emilia and Emma.
The most popular baby names in Hesse in 2022 are also Sophia or Sofia and Noah. Emilia and Lina finished 2nd and 3rd in the girls' category, Matt(h)eo/Math(h)eo and Mohammed in the boys' category.
For its overview, the GfdS relies on data from more than 750 German registry offices. Almost one million individual names and thus almost 93 percent of all first names assigned last year were transmitted and recorded. In total, nearly 70,000 different names were reported.