The most frequent names and surnames

In the publication "The most frequent names and surnames", the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia publishes a list of the most common names and surnames of the residents of the Republic of Serbia, according to the results of the 2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings.

The most frequent names and surnames are shown up to the level of municipalities and cities, where the names are given by sex and year of birth. In addition, the publication contains, for the level of the Republic of Serbia, the most common combinations of first and last names, as well as the most frequent female and male names by individual year of birth. 

Jelena and Dragan are the most common names in Serbia, and the most frequent surname is Jovanović. The most common combinations of the first and last names are: Dragan Jovanović (over 2 200) and Jelena Jovanović (around 1 900).

 

Table 1. Ten most frequent names in the Republic of Serbia

Republic of Serbia – total					Children born from 2011 to 2022
Female names		Male names			Female names		Male names
I	Jelena	I	Dragan		I	Dunja	I	Luka
II	Milica	II	Aleksandar		II	Sofija	II	Lazar
III	Marija	III	Milan		III	Milica	III	Stefan
IV	Dragana	IV	Nikola		IV	Sara	IV	Nikola
V	Mirjana	V	Zoran		V	Nikolina	V	Aleksa
VI	Ljilјana	VI	Marko		VI	Lena	VI	Vuk
VII	Snežana	VII	Miloš		VII	Teodora	VII	Filip
VIII	Ivana	VIII	Goran		VIII	Anđela	VIII	Mihajlo
IX	Gordana	IX	Dejan		IX	Maša	IX	Pavle
X	Ana	X	Dušan		X	Nađa	X	Vasilije

 

Female names by age

The name Radmila was the most popular until 1943. In the following two years, 1944 and 1945, girls were most often named Slobodanka, while from 1946 to 1948, the most common name was Mirjana. In the following 11 years, from 1949 to 1959, the name Ljiljana was the first one in terms of frequency. The name Snežana was most often given to girls born from 1960 to 1963, as well as in 1969 and 1970, while for five years, in the period 1964–1968, the most common name was Vesna. In the first half of the 70s of the 20th century, the most common female names were Biljana (1971–1973) and Danijela (1974–1975). The name Jelena was the most popular for 19 years, among generations born from 1976 to 1994. For the next 17 years, from 1995 to 2011, most girls were named Milica. In the generation born in 2012, Lena is on the first place. For the next three years, 2013–2015, name Dunja dominates, and for the next seven years, from 2016 to 2022, the most common female name in Serbia is Sofia.

Male names by age

The name Milan was the most popular until 1941, as well as in the period 1948–1950. In the war and post-war years, from 1942 to 1947, the largest number of boys were named Slobodan. The name Dragan, which bears the largest number of men in Serbia, was the most popular for 12 years, from 1951 to 1962. The next six years (1963–1968) were dominated by the name Zoran, in 1969 and 1970 by Goran, and then for nine years, from 1971 to 1979, the most common male name was Dejan. Until 1991, the most common names were Aleksandar (1980), Milan (1981 and 1983), Ivan (1982), Marko (1984–1987) and Miloš (1988–1991). For the next 17 years, from 1992 to 2007, as well as in 2009, most boys were named Nikola. Luka was the most popular name for 12 generations, namely for boys born in 2008, and then in the period 2010-2014 and 2017–2022. In 2015, the most popular male name was Stefan, and in 2016, Lazar.

The most common surnames in the Republic of Serbia

Table 2. Ten most frequent surnames in the Republic of Serbia

I	Jovanović
II	Petrović
III	Nikolić
IV	Marković
V	Đorđević
VI	Stojanović
VII	Ilić
VIII	Stanković
IX	Pavlović
X	Popović

About 130 000 citizens have the surname Jovanović, nearly 100 000 have Petrović, and around 90 000 Nikolić. 

Publication "The most frequent names and surnames"