hello! i’m from the Netherlands and I’ve noticed that while the Dutch and American/English name trends often overlap, there’s also lots of differences! Sometimes it’s even the case that the names that are popular here are considered rare on this forum. So in a moment of boredom I decided to scour the girls list for interesting finds that are not as common (as far as I know) in the English world. I hope you like these!
Here comes the list, with their ranks on the Dutch popularity list of 2013 as well. There are many numbers missing, that’s when the names are either popular in the US / UK already ([name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f]), considered dated there but trendy here ([name_u]Lisa[/name_u], [name_u]Lynn[/name_u]) or simply “too Dutch” to work internationally ([name_f]Sterre[/name_f], [name_f]Feline[/name_f]). Sometimes the names are spelled differently in Dutch than they would be in English, so I put the English counterpart of that name behind it in brackets.
What are your favorite and least favorite names from the list?
(also, if you find that you like Dutch names, here is the entire list for girls in 2013 and here are the boys).
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorites are [name_f]Roos[/name_f], [name_m]Cato[/name_m], Vajen, and [name_f]Merel[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] least favorites are pretty much everything else, lol. I’ve never seen Vajen before, though. What does it mean? I really like it!
[name_f]Tess[/name_f]/[name_f]Tessa[/name_f] - No# 1 and 41 - what’s going on here???
[name_m]Cato[/name_m] - a male name
[name_f]Jolie[/name_f] - [name_f]Angelina[/name_f]'s influence?
[name_f]Jill[/name_f] - “dated” in [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u]. Is there someone in the news in the Netherlands that I’m not aware of?
[name_f]Amber[/name_f] and [name_f]Jade[/name_f] - see [name_f]Jill[/name_f]
Esmée, [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f], [name_f]Fleur[/name_f], [name_f]Milou[/name_f], [name_f]Anouk[/name_f] and Aimée - a mix of popular culture and [name_m]French[/name_m] influences at play
Question: are accents troublesome or are they allowed on official forms in the Netherlands?
Thanks for sharing the list. It’s certainly one of the more interesting lists I’ve seen in quite sometime.
@mischa, not trying to be rude or anything, but [name_m]Cato[/name_m] isn’t just a male name; it’s also a Dutch diminutive of [name_f]Catharina[/name_f]. Sorry if I sound rude.
@ hydra: Vajen is the name of a girl contestant on the Dutch equivalent of American Idol, she claims her mother made up the name herself, either way it shot up the popularity charts after it was on tv. Vajen (actually Vajèn) is the “original” spelling, but there’s equally as many Fayen’s, Vayeanne’s and countless other spellings around now.
@ mischa: [name_m]Cato[/name_m] is indeed a Dutch [name_f]Catharina[/name_f] diminutive. Diminutives of names are rather popular around here, often even as the “legal” name on the birth certificate rather than as a family-sphere nickname (names like [name_f]Liz[/name_f], [name_u]Saar[/name_u] (from [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]) and [name_f]Noor[/name_f] (from [name_f]Nora[/name_f]) are quite high up on the lists). I guess that is because there is a real craze for short names right now. [name_f]Julia[/name_f] is the only three-syllable name in the entire top 20. I guess that’s the reason why [name_f]Tess[/name_f] and [name_f]Jill[/name_f] are popular as well. Accents are allowed here, and they’re seen around quite a lot. When people leave out accents on names that are actually supposed to have them (like Esmée, Amélie) it is sometimes seen as “lower class”. [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_u]Romy[/name_u] and [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] on your favorites list are actually 1990’s popular names already on the wane now. Especially [name_f]Iris[/name_f] - it was the 1994 top name, I think I know at least fifteen Irises!
So I’m in the U.S. on the [name_u]West[/name_u] Coast.
[name_m]Favorite[/name_m] #13 [name_u]Isa[/name_u] - simple, feminine, pretty #18 [name_f]Noa[/name_f] - love it #20 [name_f]Sanne[/name_f] - it sounds to me like sauna but I still like it #49 [name_f]Nova[/name_f] - like it #62 [name_f]Jill[/name_f] - love it
Least [name_m]Favorite[/name_m] (because they remind me of English words) #8 [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] - Lottery #12 [name_f]Fleur[/name_f] - [name_f]Floor[/name_f] #21 [name_f]Roos[/name_f] ([name_f]Rose[/name_f]) - Ruse #32 [name_f]Noor[/name_f] - [name_f]Nor[/name_f] #38 [name_f]Floor[/name_f] ([name_f]Flora[/name_f]) - [name_f]Floor[/name_f] #97 [name_f]Isis[/name_f] - Islamic extremists #102 [name_f]Marit[/name_f] - Merit #107 Vajen - in English pronunciation it would a bit like vagina #178 Faya - [name_m]Fire[/name_m]