According to Statistics Norway (SSB), William has finally reached the top of the name list after more than 30 years of “climbing”, while Emma has dominated the names lists since 2003. The top names of 2014, Nora and Luke, were pushed down this year respectively to the 2nd and 5th place in the charts.
Name researcher Jørgen Ouren from Statistics Norway is surprised that William was the most popular name for boys in 2015.
– William has grown steadily upward on the list since 1980. There has been little replacement of names in the recent years, therefore I am slightly glad that William landed on top this year, comments Ouren to NRK.
William is an English form of Wilhelm, which means “will” and “helmet”, writes Aftenposten. William has a long tradition in Norway. In the census of 1801 there were 17 people with this name. In 2015 there were registered 474 boys named William in Norway.
Emma became popular in 2003, and has since dominated the tops of most popular names for women. Already in the 1990s, Emma was very popular in Sweden before it came to Norway in 2003. The name is more than 100 years old. Together with 449 new Emmas in 2015 the name secured its place on the top of the list for the eighth time.
– We usually pick the names of our grandparents’ generation for our children. This has always been like this. For example, the names Kari and Gerd are rarely used now. But In ten years time they will certainly come back and be used again, assures Ouren.
The expert also adds:
– Saga is on the rise in Sweden. I predict that this is a name that will come to Norway soon.
