Ikea Norway launches name bank for newborn babies after pandemic boom
Ikea Norway is launching a name bank for newborn babies to counter the shortage of unique names caused by a ‘pandemic baby boom.‘
With 56060 registered births in Norway last year – 3081 more than in 2020 – some soon-to-parents are now experiencing increased difficulty in finding unique baby names.
The name bank features more than 800 names, from the popular Ivar to more rare names like Moalie. The names were collected manually by reading through more than 5000 pages of Ikea catalogs dating back to 1950, according to Try Norway, the creative agency behind the campaign.
A 60-second film featuring soon-to-be parents deliberating over names for their new arrivals has been launched, followed by ‘The Name Catalog‘ on Ikea‘s website.
“Ikea names its products after Scandinavian towns, lakes and other geographical features, but it also uses traditional boys‘ and girls‘ names. Ever since we started in 1948, we have been naming our products instead of giving them article numbers. With this name bank we want to help new families find a unique name,” said Carl Aaby, country retail manager for Ikea Norway.