A total of 528 newborn girls were named Alma in 2024, according to the Swedish Tax Agency, Skatteverket, which is in charge of the national population register.
Originally a Spanish name, Alma has been around in Sweden since at least 1724. It had its heyday in 1885-1919 and after 2000, according to the Institute for Language and Folklore.
Alice claimed the second spot, followed by Olivia. Elsa and Vera – the most popular names in 2023 – rounded off the top five, reinforcing a trend of relatively short and old-fashioned girl’s names regaining popularity in Sweden.
Among boys, Noah was the clear winner for the second year in a row, given to 647 boys. It was followed by William, Hugo, Liam and Adam.
The earliest records of a Noah in Sweden date back to 1592 (spelled as “Noe”) but its popularity has peaked since the start of the current millennium.
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In Stockholm, Otto was the most popular name for newborn boys, with Alice and Alba in shared first place. In Malmö, the most popular names were Adam for boys and Mila for girls, and Gothenburg followed the national trend with Noah and Alma at the top.
Parents in Sweden have three months from the birth of their child to officially register its name, meaning that some children born at the end of the year may not have made the list. For this reason, the name statistics will be updated again in June.
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