Each year for more than three decades, the Federal Statistical Office has been publishing the first names of infants born in Switzerland.
The most popular names in 2020 for girls were Mia, followed by Emma and Mila.
Emma ranked first in 2019, but Mia reclaimed the top spot in 2020 after being top of the pops in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
Revealed: Switzerland’s most popular baby names in 2020
In total, there were 461 Mias born in Switzerland last year, followed by 407 Emmas and 350 Milas.
For boys, Noah took the top spot, ahead of Liam and Matteo.
While Liam was top in 2019, Noah reclaimed pole position that he held in 2010, 2011 and from 2013 to 2017.
Switzerland saw 507 Noahs born last year, followed by 372 Liams and 359 Matteos.
But as anyone who lives in Switzerland knows, nationwide trends mean very little, given the four large linguistic regions - and the remarkable diversity among the country’s 26 cantons.
What are the most common names in each linguistic region?
Switzerland’s domestic diversity when it comes to names is highlighted by the fact the two most popular names on a national basis are not the most popular in any one linguistic region other than the German-speaking part.
Mia and Noah are the most popular names in German-speaking Switzerland as well as in the country as a whole, which is of course helped by the fact that around 60 percent of Switzerland speaks German.
French-speaking Switzerland, also known as Romandie, saw Gabriel and Emma top the charts in 2020.
There were 156 Gabriels born in French-speaking Switzerland and 131 Emmas.
Sofia claimed top prize in the Italian-speaking part of the country, while Leonardo was far and away the biggest winner among the boys.
If you really want to be unique, then heading to the Romansh region in the canton of Graubünden is the place to be.
The most popular girls’ name is a five-way tie between Daria, Laura, Lea, Lorena and Yuna, with two of each born in 2020.
For the boys, Nic and Levin top the charts.
18 interesting facts about Romansh, Switzerland’s fourth official language
What about at a cantonal level?
While there were some outliers - we’re looking at you Ticino and Graubünden - linguistic regions tended to coalesce around the same boys and girls names in Switzerland.
Where more than one name is provided, it represents a tie between the names in top place.
Zürich (ZH)
Girls: Mia
Boys: Noa
Aargau (AG)
Girls: Mia
Boys: Noah
Bern / Berne (BE)
Girls: Mia
Boys: Luca
Luzern (LU)
Girls: Lina
Boys: Matteo
Thurgau (TG)
Girls: Emilia
Boys: Noah
Uri (UR)
Girls: Laura, Lorena
Boys: Luca
Schwyz (SZ)
Girls: Lea
Boys: Leon
Obwalden (OW)
Girls: Alina, Fiona, Mia, Leonie
Boys: Livio, Noah
Nidwalden (NW)
Girls: Lynn, Lia, Elin
Boys: Luca, Nevio, Timo
Glarus (GL)
Girls: Fiona
Boys: Mauro
Zug (ZG)
Girls: Mia
Boys: Matteo
Solothurn (SO)
Girls: Emilia, Lina
Boys: Noah
Basel Stadt (BS)
Girls: Emilia
Boys: Leon
Basel Land (BL)
Girls: Elena, Lina, Lia
Boys: Matteo
Schaffhausen (SH)
Girls: Alina, Aurora, Emma
Boys: Matteo
Appenzell Ausserrhoden (AR)
Girls: Lea
Boys: Ben, Laurin, Mattia, Silas
Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI)
Girls: Gianna, Malea
Boys: Noah
St Gallen (SG)
Girls: Mia
Boys: Noah
Graubünden (GR)
Girls: Emilia
Boys: Elia
Ticino (TI)
Girls: Sofia
Boys: Leonardo
Vaud (VD)
Girls: Emma, Zoe
Boys: Gabriel
Freiburg / Fribourg (FR)
Girls: Emma
Boys:
Valais / Wallis (VS)
Girls: Emma
Boys: Gabriel
Neuchâtel (NE)
Girls: Emma,
Boys:
Genève (GE)
Girls: Emma
Boys: Gabriel
Jura (JU)
Girls: Emma, Luna
Boys: Liam
What about the most popular names overall?
The same report didn’t only look at newborns, but also all names in Switzerland - providing a top 20 of both men and women.
The list was compiled according to figures available on the 31st of December 2020, meaning that people born in 2021 have not yet been taken into account.
In the men’s column, the name Daniel just beat out several other biblical names including Peter and Thomas, while Hans made an appearance in fourth.
Christian came in fifth.
Urs, the quintessential Swiss men’s name, came in 15th on the list.
Names of Christian origin also dominated the women’s list, with Maria a clear winner of the first place award.
This was followed by Anna and Sandra, with Ursula and Elizabeth rounding out the top five.
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