Noah was again the most popular boys’ name in the Netherlands in 2024. As a girl’s name, Emma was the big winner. The Social Insurance Bank (SVB) on Monday. It is the sixth year in a row that Noah is the most chosen boy’s name in the Netherlands. Emma has also been the most popular girl’s name several times in recent years, only in 2023 it was the name Julia, and ‘Emma’ ended up in fourth place.
Of the 84,990 boys born in 2024, no fewer than 922 were named Noah. Other popular boy names were Luca (second place) and Lucas (third). Of the 80,604 girls born, 657 children were named Emma. Olivia was then the most chosen and in third place was Nora.
Since 2022, the most frequently chosen ‘gender neutral’ name has also been recorded: a name that is chosen just as often for girls as for boys. This year, the name Charlie was chosen 156 times as a name for both a girl and a boy. Robin (68 girls and 64 boys) and Sammy (11 girls and 10 boys) were next popular in this category. Last year, Riley was the first most popular gender-neutral name in the Netherlands.
Mohammed/Muhammad
The popularity of names varies per province, according to the SVB. Noah was chosen most often in Drenthe, Flevoland, Utrecht, North Holland, South Holland, North Brabant and Limburg. Emma only became the most popular name in Groningen and North Brabant.
The differences were particularly large in the big cities, name expert Gerrit Bloothooft told the ANP. “The name of the first man and prophet in Islam, Adam, is the top name in Amsterdam and The Hague, while Mohammed is in Rotterdam and Sam in Utrecht.” The name Mohammed (255 times in total) was spelled differently in different cities: also as Mohamed (174 times) and Muhammad (88 times).