The names Viktorie and Jakub are the most popular in our country. In Slovakia, Sofia and Jakub are among them.
The most popular girl’s name in our country last year was Viktorie for the first time ever, dethroning Eliška from the top spot after thirteen years. Among boys, Jakub maintained the first position after a close contest with Matyáš. And how is it elsewhere? For example, in the United Kingdom, it is Olivia and Muhammad, and in Slovakia, Sofia and Jakub.
“In the year 2025, 1193 Victorias and 1125 Eliškas were born. For the first time, Victoria became the most popular girl's name. Jakub retained his first place from previous years ahead of Matyáš, but only by 18 newborn boys. Jan and Sofie again took third place,”
wrote the chairman of the Czech Statistical Office, Marek Rojíček, for LP-Life.
Jakub and Victoria dominated the rankings in half of the regions. Both names mainly dominate in the eastern part of the Czech Republic.
Jan and Jana Remain at the Top Long-Term
And how was it in other positions? The popularity of the following seven boys' and girls' names hasn't changed much compared to the previous period. Anna, Amálie, Natálie, or Emma, and Adam, Matěj, David, and Vojtěch remain popular.
Newly placed in the top twenty are the names Jonáš and Valerie, replacing Martin and Stella. However, in the last three years, the names Lara, which moved up by 31 places, Sofia by 26, Matteo by 19, and Theodor by 18 places, have risen the most.
A more significant drop in popularity, on the other hand, affected Tomáš and Tereza. These long-term very popular names have recently fallen to twelfth and eleventh position, respectively. Instead of Tomáš and Tereza, the names Oliver and Rozálie appeared in the top ten favorite children's names for the first time, with Oliver moving up five places since 2024. From a long-term perspective, however, Jan and Jana are still at the top of popularity in our country.
A Bet on Diversity
Prague holds a special position, maintaining a greater diversity of names in this regard than the rest of the country. Last year, only 7 percent of boys and 6 percent of girls received the three most common names here. In the metropolis, parents most frequently chose the name Sofie for girls, while Adam and Matyáš shared the top spot in popularity for boys.
“While a total of five names have alternated at the top of popularity among boys since the mid-20th century, girls' parents had a much more variable taste and were more influenced by fashion trends. Currently, there is an increasing trend of diversity across both genders. The time when more than ten percent of all children born in one year bore the most popular name is definitely over, and today's parents are choosing a much more diverse range of names for their offspring,”
added Rojíček.
Slovaks prefer Sofia and Jakub
And how is it elsewhere? In Slovakia, our eastern neighbors, last year's rankings were dominated by the girl names Sofia, Eliška, and Ema, and the boy names Jakub, Samuel, and Oliver, according to the local Ministry of Interior. The names Sofia and Jakub have maintained a dominant position for the past 15 years, except for a few years.
In the top ten of popular boys' names, the following also placed: Oliver, Adam, Michal, Tomáš, Filip, Tobias, Šimon, and Matias. In the top ten girls' names, Nina, Viktorie, Sára, Olívie, Natálie, Diana, and Mia also made it.
Comparing these statistics with previous years reveals that Slovak parents' preferences have not changed significantly. The first two places in the ranking of the most popular children's names remain the same as in 2024. Changes occurred in the third and fourth places: Ema pushed Nina down and Oliver replaced Adam. The names Kristína, Ján, and Patrik dropped out of the top twenty, while the names Rebeka, Sebastián, and Dominik made it in.
Why Muhammad?
If we look further to the west, we'll find that according to the statistical office in Great Britain, Olivia was among the most popular girls' names last year. The information was provided by ČTK. Other sought-after names included Isla, Florence, Freya, Poppy, Elsie, Ivy, and Isabella. And for boys? Muhammad leads, followed by Luca, Arthur, Oliver, George, Oscar, Theodore, and Freddie. Olivia has maintained the top spot in the girls' names ranking for ten consecutive years, while Muhammad has led the boys' names chart for the third year in a row.
Individual statistics suggest that the choice of popular names in different countries varies quite a bit. In the United Kingdom, it is undoubtedly striking that Muhammad is not typically considered a local name. However, the trend of multiculturalism has evidently taken root here...
Sources: author's article, CTK, Slovak Ministry of the Interior, CSO
