The most common names for newborn babies in the Czech Republic last year were Eliška and Jakub, as has been the case since 2012, according to Marek Rojicek, the chair of the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).
The second- and third-placed names are also similar to the previous year. For boys, as in 2023, these were Matyas and Jan, while for girls, the second most common name was Viktorie, with Sofie replacing Anna in third place.
The popularity of the names Sebastian, Amalie and Mia is increasing, while the popularity of the names Simon and Marie is decreasing.
In 2024, about 84,000 babies were born in the Czech Republic, about 7,000 fewer than the previous year.
“As far as boys’ names are concerned, their order has not changed since last year. For girls, Sofie is in third place, and last year, we had Anna in third place. The difference between Sofie and Anna is very small, only seven children. It was very close,” said Rojicek.
For boys, statisticians recorded over 3,200 different names, for girls more than 3,500. Differently spelled names such as Emma and Ema are counted as two different names.
The names Sebastian, Mia, Sara and Amalie are growing in popularity among parents. Sebastian was among the top 20 most popular names last year for the first time.
On the other hand, Simon and Marie are losing popularity, as these names dropped out of the top 20 last year. The tradition of naming children after their parents is stronger among boys.
For unusual names, statisticians are noticing several different trends. Some of these are Czech versions of foreign names, such as Anton and Henry, some are names of literary or film characters such as Anakin, Tristan, Greta and Marlen, and Jewish and Old Czech names are also appearing more often.
The name Jan is the only one that has remained continuously in the top ten most popular names since 1950, including 25 times as the most popular name. The name Petr was also popular, but is no longer in the top 20. For girls’ names, Jana has been the most popular 25 times, and Tereza 15 times.
