Finding Baby Names - How to Choose the Right Name for Your Baby
- Finding baby names: You find baby names by combining sound, meaning, connection, and feeling.
- Popular baby names: Short, melodic names like Noah or Sophia are currently trending.
- Baby names workshop: Visit Dr. Inga Siegfried-Schupp for her Finding Baby Names online workshop.
Finding the right baby name
Expecting a child? Alongside all the things that will now shape your life, you only have until the birth to think through something very important: What should your child be called? What name will they be called by and carry into society? For many expecting parents, finding the right baby name is one of the most exciting parts of pregnancy.
Inspiration for baby names
You'll surely find plenty of suggestions and ideas in books, online, on social media, and among friends and family. Maybe you already have a name in mind. But does your partner like it too? What seems simple at first often turns out not to be, and for most expecting parents it becomes a shared question, opportunity, and task. Every child in the world needs a first name, and that's always been true everywhere. Many parents start their name search early, looking for ways to find first names that fit their family.
Trends and the spirit of the times in boy names and girl names
When going by sound, people usually wonder whether the chosen baby name's sound will be perceived positively by others too. What sounds good at a certain time also depends on the spirit of the times. In recent years, short names with a melodic sound have increasingly been chosen:
Popular first names by year
Since 2019 - Boy names
- Noah (leading since 2019)
- Matteo/Mattheo
- Leon
2023 and 2024 - Girl names
- Sophia/Sofia
- Emilia
- Emma
In 1990 - Most popular names
- Anna/Anne
- Daniel
Looking at current top lists in other European countries and North America, the most popular first names have been converging in recent years. Especially in the Western world, the trend is moving toward children's names that work internationally.
Why more diversity is emerging in first names today
Even though the German top 10 has, despite regional differences, seen relatively little movement in recent years, this doesn't automatically lead to noticeable clusters of children sharing the same name in daycare and school. More and more different first names are being given. A growing number of parents are looking for an individual, exclusive name for their child.
Which baby names registrars allow, and which they don't
Above all else stands the protection of the child's wellbeing. And this is exactly where the registrar's office sometimes steps in. Names like Satan, Lucifer, Verleihnix, Thanatos, Gucci, Rosenherz, Atomfried, Puppe, or Bierstübl are not approved for registration in Germany. At the same time, registrars are not the guardians of good taste: in 2013, a Hamburg registrar's office approved the first names Don Armani Karl-Heinz and Camino Santiago Freigeist. And names like Louboutini or Schneewittchen have also been approved in Germany.
The responsibility and duty of care therefore lies first and foremost with the people naming the child, and in Germany that's usually the mothers and fathers. Which brings us back to the start. If you don't want to figure out a baby name entirely on your own, you can get help.
