New research from hobbiest name researcher Knud Bielefeld has indicated what the most popular German baby names in 2020 were. By looking at the growing and declining popularity of certain first names, he also speculated on what the top baby names could be in 2021.

The most popular German baby names in 2020

According to Bielefeld's research, the name Noah has overtaken Ben as the most popular baby boy name in Germany, with Matteo rounding off the top three. For newborn baby girls, the name Mia took the top spot, followed closely by Emilia and Hannah.

Bielefeld collected data from official city records, photo galleries of birth clinics and registry offices. The registry offices gave him significantly more data this year due to there being fewer photographers over the pandemic period. Bielefeld analysed data from 465 locations, which corresponded to around 23 percent of children born in 2020.

Top 10 names for baby boys:

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

Top 10 names for baby girls:

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

Bielefeld also revealed that Sophia, Marie and Maria for girls and Alexander, Elias and Maximilian for boys were the most popular middle names for 2020. Some rather unusual names were included in the report as well, such as Amore, Divora and Marvelous for girls and Archibald, Hotte, Rhett and Denver for boys, all of which were given at least twice, according to Bielefeld.

Predictions for 2021

Bielefeld analysed birth reports from 2017 to 2019 to identify certain trends for different names to predict what the most popular names for babies in 2021 could be. “I made relatively simple trend calculations for the forecast,” he said. According to his calculations, several names had risen in popularity over the past few years. “If you want me to predict, I expect Matteo and Emilia to be at number one next year, if the upward trend continues like this.”

Forecast: Top boy names for 2021

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

Forecast: Top girl names for 2021

1. Emilia
2. Hannah / Hanna
3. Mia
4. Emma
5. Ella
6. Lina
7. Frieda
8. Marie
9. Mila
10. Lea

No official ranking for German names

A similar report is published by the Society for the German Language (GfDs) every year, taking most of its data from registry offices. Unlike other countries, there are no official statistics for popular baby names in Germany.