Other events in Baltic States

Over the past 100 years, the most popular baby names for boys in Latvia were Janis, Daniels and Roberts, while the most popular girl names have changed several times, and the most popular girl names in Latvia during the past 100 years were Anna, Dzintra, Valentina, Tatjana, Svetlana, Jelena, Kristine, Laura, Anastasija and Sofija, the Central Statistical Bureau's representative Sanda Rieksta told LETA.

The Statistical Bureau has analyzed popularity of baby names in Latvia since 1918, based on data available from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.

Janis has been the most popular name in Latvia every year from 1918 to 2000. Daniels then became the most popular baby names for boys in around 2005, and Roberts has been the most popular boy name for the past ten years.

The other baby names for boys that have consistently been very popular in Latvia since 1918 are Peteris, Aleksandrs, Andrejs, Vladimirs, Karlis, Eduards, Arturs, Eriks, Edgars, Martins, Vladislavs and Aleksejs.

Some of the boy names that were very popular in Latvia from 1918 to 1940 but have dropped out of top 100 baby boy names by now are Arvids, Jazeps and Arnolds, while name Karlis briefly dropped out of top 100 but now is the fifth most popular baby boy name in Latvia.

Up until the end of World War II, Anna was the most popular baby girl name in Latvia. It has been one of top five baby names for girls since 1990.

Dzintra was the most popular girl name in Latvia at the end of the 1940s, but around 1970 it dropped out of top 100 baby girl names and has not made its way back into the top as yet. Valentina then became the most popular baby girl name in Latvia around 1950.

Tatjana, Svetlana and Jelena were consecutively the most popular names in Latvia from the 1950s to 1975. This was largely due to influx of people from the other soviet republics.

Kristine was the top name for baby girls from 1980 to 1995, but since 1995, the top three baby names for girls in Latvia have been Laura, Anastasija and Sofija.

Many of the girl names currently popular in Latvia, such as Sofija, Emilija, Marta, Alise, Katrina and Elza, were also very popular from the declaration of independence in 1918 until 1940. Others, such as Milda, Alma, Tekla, Zelma and Herta, were also highly popular in the 1920s and 1930s but have since dropped out of the top 100.

Many of the most popular names in 1930-1935, including Velta, Dzidra, Mirdza, Biruta, Ausma and Aina, are also no longer in the top 100.