They seem to be matched: Noor and Noah are the most popular children’s names of 2025. The Social Insurance Bank (SVB) announced this on Thursday. 705 girls born last year were named Noor, 883 boys were named Noah. The most popular gender-neutral name, which was given to approximately as many boys (140) as girls (165), is Charlie, just like last year.
It is the seventh year in a row that Noah (origin: Hebrew, meaning: rest, comfort) is at the top of the list. Numbers two and three, Liam and Luca, have also been in the top 10 for years. Noor (origin: Arabic, meaning: light) has never ‘won’ before. In recent years, the names Julia (now number 4) and Emma (now number 7) have alternated as the most commonly given girls’ names.
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Names are sensitive to trends, but once they become ‘in’ they often stick around for years. As usual, there is little innovation in the higher regions of the list, which the SVB presents every January. It is striking that the popular names contain many variations on the same name. For example, Nora is in third place for girls, and both Luca and Lukas are in the top 10, followed quite quickly by Luuk at number 18.
Also remarkable: the Dutch like to keep their children’s names short. Of the first twenty boys’ names, only five are longer than four letters, while of the girls’ names there are six. Parenting site WIJ.nl pointed out last fall that short names are “completely contemporary”. “No fuss, just clear,” said the editors.
The SVB also keeps track of the names given per province. This shows, for example, that the Biblical John is exceptionally popular in Zeeland. The name is in second place there in the popularity list, while nationally it dangles at place 142. The Frisian list – not surprisingly – deviates the most from the national one, with traditional names such as Hidde, Jurre, Fedde and Jelte (M) and Mare, Fenna and Silke (V) in the top 10.
Climber Noor
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