Sofia and Noah lead Switzerland's 2025 baby name rankings as Müller tops surnames

National leaders and biggest movers

The Federal Statistical Office released its annual first name data on 21 August 2026, confirming Sofia and Noah as Switzerland's most popular baby names in 2025. Sofia claimed first place among girls, displacing Emma to second position, with Mia in third and Lina in fourth. Sofia had previously featured in the national top three from 2017 to 2019 and from 2022 to 2024. For girls, every name in the national top 20 ended with the letter "a" until Alice at 20th place. Among boys, Noah secured the top ranking for the 12th time since 2010, following previous stints at the summit in 2010, 2011, 2013–2017, and 2021–2024. Liam took second place, Gabriel third, and Matteo fourth.

Liyana and Arno recorded the largest year-on-year gains between 2024 and 2025. Liyana climbed 279 places in the girls' rankings, while Arno rose 199 places among boys. Conversely, Linda dropped 69 positions and Milan fell 76 spots. Two new names, Mina and Maleo, entered the national top 100 for the first time.

Linguistic divides across Swiss regions

Parental choices varied significantly across the country's language regions. In German-speaking Switzerland, the top female names were Emma, Mia, and Sofia, while Noah led the male list. In French-speaking Switzerland, Sofia led with 104 registrations, followed by Olivia and Alma. For boys in Romandie, Gabriel took first place with 143 registrations, pushing Noah to second and Arthur to third. Gabriel placed 19th in the German-speaking region.

Cantonal data in Romandie showed further variations. Sofia led in Geneva and Vaud, while Jade topped the girls' list in Jura, Alice led in Valais, and Olivia led in Neuchâtel and Fribourg. Jura's male rankings favored Elio and Arthur. In Italian-speaking Switzerland, Leonardo ranked first among boys, while Amélie, Alice, and Sophie led among girls. In Canton Lucerne, Lustat Statistik Luzern reported Sophia and Matteo as the top choices among 3,900 newborns, with 30% of babies receiving a second given name.

Overall population and surname patterns

The baby name rankings stand in contrast to the broader resident population. At the end of 2025, Maria was the most common female name nationwide with 71,873 bearers, while Daniel led all male names with 63,013. In comparison, Switzerland counted 13,238 residents named Noah (rank 55) and 9,679 named Sofia (rank 90). Maria held the top spot across all four language regions, whereas Daniel ranked first in German-speaking areas and second in Romandie behind Jean and David. Generationally, Maria and Daniel led the 1965 birth cohort, Michael and Sandra led in 1985, and David and Sara led in 2005. Foreign nationals made up 28% of the population, with Maria also leading the 351,000-strong Italian diaspora.

Surnames also reflected regional traditions. Müller remained the most common family name nationwide with 52,674 individuals, followed by Meier with 32,284 and Schmid with 30,134.

The diversity of names in Switzerland is enormous.

Despite their top rank, individuals named Müller make up only 0.6% of Switzerland's 9.12 million residents. Regionally, da Silva was the most frequent surname in Romandie with 10,390 people, ahead of Ferreira and Pereira. Bernasconi was the most common surname in Ticino, while Derungs led in the Romansh-speaking area.