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Beatriz, Nikau, Pablo—These Are The Most Popular Baby Names Around The World

Written by Erin Feher

Photography by Astaire Woldemichael-Smith, photographed by Belathee Photography

Is your preschool crawling with Mateos, Milas, and Sebastians? Then we’ll wager you live in California or Oregon. If you keep hearing João and Maria shouted across the playground, you are probably in Portugal. And if you live in New Zealand, chances are you have been invited to a birthday party for a Mia or Nikau recently.

Thanks to a variety of international baby name roundups online (like this and this), we’ve been able to comb through the most popular baby names around the world from the past year, and some of the trends might just surprise you (80 percent of Iceland’s population shares the same 200 names!) and some that may not (you’re bound to find an Emma in almost any country).

Below, we’ve listed the top-ten name choices for a handful of different locales and cultures. For folks with a baby on the way and an international mindset, what better way to spark inspiration for your own original moniker than to look beyond the hottest names in the U.S. (pssst: you can peep that list right here) and look abroad!

Germany
Emma, Ben, Mia, Paul, Hannah/Hanna, Leon, Emilia, Finn/Fynn, Sofia/Sophia, Elias

Brazil
Miguel, Sophia, Davi, Alice, Arthur, Julia, Pedro, Isabella, Gabriel, Manuela

Alberta
Liam, Olivia, Oliver, Emma, Noah, Charlotte, Ethan, Emily, Logan, Ava

Portugal
João, Maria, Francisco, Leonor, Santiago, Matilde, Afonso, Carolina, Duarte, Beatriz

Iceland
Aron, Katrín, Þór, Freyr, Máni, María, Rós

Chile
Agustina, Mateo, Isabella, Agustín, Sofia, Tomás, Emilia, Santiago, Lucas, Isidora

Japan
Ren, Yuzuki, Yua, Minato, Yuina, Hiroto, An, Yamato, Rin, Haruto, Sakura

Spain
Lucas, Lucia, Hugo, Sofia, Martin, Maria, Daniel, Martina, Pablo, Paula

Maori-Language Names in New Zealand
Nikau, Mia, Ari, Aria, Maia, Mania, Nina, Ariana, Ihiaia, Mateo

The West Coast of the U.S.
Emma, Noah, Olivia, Liam, Mia, Sebastian, Sophia, Jacob, Isabella, Matthew

For more baby name inspo, check out our pieces on The Hottest Baby Names Of 2019, The Most Popular Baby Names Of 2018, and The Top Baby Names Of The Last 100 Years.

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