This is the most popular baby name in your canton

On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Statistics (BfS) published the most common baby names in Switzerland in 2022. Noah and Emma were the most chosen.

Noah is at the top for the seventh time since 2010 and defends his top position for the second time. Emma has been the most popular choice five times since 2011 and Mia has been pushed back to second place this year. Let’s take a closer look and tell you which name for newborns was chosen most often in your canton.

While Emma occupies the top position in Switzerland, she only takes first place in the cantons of Friborg and Valais.

In contrast, in four cantons, Mia and Emilia are the most common names. There were a total of 13 different girls’ names in the top positions in the 26 cantons. There are also four cantons in which at least two names were most often mentioned together.

Depending on the canton, relatively few births are sufficient. In Obwalden, for example, Ella, Lina and Nina are at the top with four newborns.

There is less variation among boys. Only eight different names took first place in a canton. At least two names were chosen with equal frequency for the top position in seven cantons. Noah dominates in eleven cantons, meandering on both sides of the French-German language border.

Since last year, the Federal Bureau of Statistics also registers the frequency of surnames by canton (not only for newborns, but in general) and publishes them on the same day.

While Müller dominates in German-speaking Switzerland, the originally Portuguese da Silva family has secured the top spot in Western Switzerland. In Valais there are currently about 140 Fourniers more than da Silvas. However, it seems only a matter of time before a replacement comes here too.

Striking: in Geneva, the 15 most common surnames originate from the Portuguese-speaking area. Martin, who is also common in French-speaking countries, ranks 16th, followed by Portuguese and Spanish names, until Müller, the first German-Swiss name, comes in 22nd.