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ArchivesTop names in Germany, 2006
Don't know if anyone else has posted this yet, but here is a link to an article about the Top Ten names for babies of each gender born in Germany in 2006:
http://german.about.com/library/blname_top10.htm
I was surprised to see that Finn made the top ten list for boys in Germany in 2006. Does anyone know if there is any particular thing in German popular culture that has introduced this name to German parents recently?
More information: I looked at the original site the data came from, (URL below) and it gives the Top 200 names. However, if I am reading my German correctly, this site makes clear that the government in Germany does NOT put out national statistics, but that the owners of this site collect data from 79 different birth clinics or hospitals throughout Germany to come up with the list, and that there were 27,700 births in those clinics in 2006. I don't know what % of the total births in Germany that is, or how those clinics reflect the social and ethnic makeup of the country. I suspect that this list under-represents all those of Turkish descent who live in Germany, as the first name which looks Turkish to me on this list, Mustafa, is way down at #187, and I bet a true national list would now show Turkish names as being more prominent than that in Germany.
http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/2006.htm
http://german.about.com/library/blname_top10.htm
I was surprised to see that Finn made the top ten list for boys in Germany in 2006. Does anyone know if there is any particular thing in German popular culture that has introduced this name to German parents recently?
More information: I looked at the original site the data came from, (URL below) and it gives the Top 200 names. However, if I am reading my German correctly, this site makes clear that the government in Germany does NOT put out national statistics, but that the owners of this site collect data from 79 different birth clinics or hospitals throughout Germany to come up with the list, and that there were 27,700 births in those clinics in 2006. I don't know what % of the total births in Germany that is, or how those clinics reflect the social and ethnic makeup of the country. I suspect that this list under-represents all those of Turkish descent who live in Germany, as the first name which looks Turkish to me on this list, Mustafa, is way down at #187, and I bet a true national list would now show Turkish names as being more prominent than that in Germany.
http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/2006.htm
This message was edited 1/31/2007, 3:17 PM
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Replies
Finn
Finn has been a popular name in the north of Germany (especially in Schleswig-Holstein in the very north) for some years now, but I can't think of any special reason for that.
Finns in northern Germany are about 0-20 years old at the moment. The popularity of the name has spread to the middle of the country a bit later, so the Finns from there are usually younger. I haven't heard about Finn being used in the very south of Germany or in Austria and Switzerland, yet.
Yes, there's no real statistics of German first names considering ALL births - unfortunately. So this top 200 you found is probably the closest you can get.
/Satu
http://www.nordicnames.de/Aussprache.html
Finn has been a popular name in the north of Germany (especially in Schleswig-Holstein in the very north) for some years now, but I can't think of any special reason for that.
Finns in northern Germany are about 0-20 years old at the moment. The popularity of the name has spread to the middle of the country a bit later, so the Finns from there are usually younger. I haven't heard about Finn being used in the very south of Germany or in Austria and Switzerland, yet.
Yes, there's no real statistics of German first names considering ALL births - unfortunately. So this top 200 you found is probably the closest you can get.
/Satu
http://www.nordicnames.de/Aussprache.html
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I have no clue about Finn, sorry. It's been heard for a few years now, but where it came from back then, I don't know.
The Statistische Bundesamt counts 685,795 births in Germany in 2005, so you can reckon that 27,700 births would be, um, let's say around 4 %? (I'm terribly bad at maths.)
You can ask Knud Bielefeld, who comprised that list, if you have questions about his data collection: kontakt@kbielefeld.de It certainly would be interesting to know why there are nearly no Turkish names.
I also looked around online and I found these two articles:
http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/berlin_nid_41385.html
According to an enquiry by the FOCUS magazine among the 12 registry offices in Berlin, Ali was on rank 10 among the most popular baby names in Berlin in 2006.
However, this site says the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache makes its list based on the data of registries in medium-sized and small towns - which have a lower percentage of inhabitants with migration background.
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/archiv/31.12.2006/2993319.asp
In the district of Berlin-Neukölln, Ali is on the 3rd place of the most popular baby names in 2006, Can on 7th, Arda (which I have never heard of) 21st and Muhammed 27th (Mustafa isn't mentioned at all!). On the girls' list, Nur is the only Islamic name on rank 15.
This article also suggests that migrant parents don't follow name trends to the same extent as German parents do. Hence their babies' names aren't as concentrated on a few popular ones and less likely to climb up the popularity charts. I'm not sure if that's logical - with the Turkish communities being so closely knit, surely trends must be created within that community!
The Statistische Bundesamt counts 685,795 births in Germany in 2005, so you can reckon that 27,700 births would be, um, let's say around 4 %? (I'm terribly bad at maths.)
You can ask Knud Bielefeld, who comprised that list, if you have questions about his data collection: kontakt@kbielefeld.de It certainly would be interesting to know why there are nearly no Turkish names.
I also looked around online and I found these two articles:
http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/berlin_nid_41385.html
According to an enquiry by the FOCUS magazine among the 12 registry offices in Berlin, Ali was on rank 10 among the most popular baby names in Berlin in 2006.
However, this site says the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache makes its list based on the data of registries in medium-sized and small towns - which have a lower percentage of inhabitants with migration background.
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/archiv/31.12.2006/2993319.asp
In the district of Berlin-Neukölln, Ali is on the 3rd place of the most popular baby names in 2006, Can on 7th, Arda (which I have never heard of) 21st and Muhammed 27th (Mustafa isn't mentioned at all!). On the girls' list, Nur is the only Islamic name on rank 15.
This article also suggests that migrant parents don't follow name trends to the same extent as German parents do. Hence their babies' names aren't as concentrated on a few popular ones and less likely to climb up the popularity charts. I'm not sure if that's logical - with the Turkish communities being so closely knit, surely trends must be created within that community!
This message was edited 2/1/2007, 9:06 AM
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The "Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache e. V." ("Society for the German Language") publishes something that approaches an "official" national statistic. They make public the top 10 names every year, but you can order a list of the top 200 names for a small fee, as described here (in German):
http://www.gfds.de/index.php?id=63
However, the lists are for personal use only; when I once tried to get a license for publishing the lists as part of my shareware, they declined.
As for Finn, that looks really strange, and I don't know of anything in the popular culture in Germany right now that could produce this phenomenon. But maybe I am already too old, maybe German teenagers should be interviewed :)
http://www.gfds.de/index.php?id=63
However, the lists are for personal use only; when I once tried to get a license for publishing the lists as part of my shareware, they declined.
As for Finn, that looks really strange, and I don't know of anything in the popular culture in Germany right now that could produce this phenomenon. But maybe I am already too old, maybe German teenagers should be interviewed :)
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I read on another message board that Deniz was a popular baby name among Turkish-German couples - probably its similarity to Denise and Dennis makes it particularly attractive.
Bela and Mirko are actually used by German parents. Bela probably owns its popularity (if rank 170 is "popular") to German rock singer Bela B. Felsenheimer. Mirko is, I assume, an alternative to Marco, which has been around for a while (It's on rank 95 in that list).
I've never heard of any Turkish parents using these names.
Bela and Mirko are actually used by German parents. Bela probably owns its popularity (if rank 170 is "popular") to German rock singer Bela B. Felsenheimer. Mirko is, I assume, an alternative to Marco, which has been around for a while (It's on rank 95 in that list).
I've never heard of any Turkish parents using these names.
This message was edited 2/1/2007, 8:20 AM
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