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These are Germany's most popular baby names

The Local Germany
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These are Germany's most popular baby names
Photo: DPA

The top baby names favoured by parents in Germany are in...and there’s a new frontrunner for the boys.

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Last year, Marie remained the most popular girl's name, according to the results of a study of baby names released by the Association for the German Language (GfdS) on Thursday.

But Paul, which was number three in the previous year, has replaced Maximilian in the top spot for the boys.

The study also showed some interesting regional differences, with parents in eastern and northern German states proving to be trendsetters when it comes to naming their little ones.

Study shows name trends

Across Germany in the girls’ category, Sophie/Sofie and Maria followed Marie to make up the top three.

Meanwhile, Johanna secured the number 10 position, after falling to 11th position in recent years.

After 20 years in the top 10, Paul scooped the number one position in the boys’ name list for the first time, replacing Maximilian as the leader.

Meanwhile, Henry/Henri is a newcomer on the list, at number nine.

The ranking takes into account all given names, including middle names.

The top first-names only list remains completely unchanged from 2017: Emma, Hannah and Mia for baby girls, and Ben, Paul and Leon for newborn boys.

SEE ALSO: These are Germany's most popular names of 2017

The study has helped unearth some of the current trends for baby names in Germany.

Some typically old fashioned names from Oma and Opa's generation are particularly popular in the eastern and northern German states. These include Mathilda, Frieda, Ida, Greta, Leni and Lina among the girls. And Karl, Oskar, Anton, Jakob and Theo for the boys. 

Charlotte and Emil deserve a special mention: both names are already among the top 10 in numerous German states and it is quite likely that they will make it into the Germany-wide list next year.

Mohammed, and all its variants, was also popular and in the top 10 of several German states. 

Photo shows the most popular boy and girls names by state. Graphic: the Association for the German Language.

A comparison of past years shows that trends spread mainly from north to south, and from east to west. 

So the names Finn and Henry, Ella and to some extent Ida, which have so far been more commonly used in the north, are now also found on the lists of southern German states.

Meanwhile, names popular in the east, such as Charlotte, Mathilda and Frieda, Karl, Emil and Oskar now scoop top places in some western German states.

The GfdS evaluated data from 700 registry offices and recorded around 90 percent of all names given.

Here's the 2018 top 10 lists for Germany:

Girls

1. Marie

2 Sophie/Sofie

3. Maria

4. Sophia/Sofia

5. Emilia

6. Emma

7. Hannah/Hanna

8. Mia

9. Anna

10. Johanna

 

Boys

1. Paul

2. Alexander

3. Maximilian

4. Elias

5. Ben

6. Louis/Luis

7. Leon

8. Noah

9. Henry/Henri

10. Felix

More

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