Sweden tricked us, you guys.
Last year, Statistics Sweden ominously announced that it would “stop producing name statistics.”
It neglected to mention that the country’s baby name data would continue coming out every year — that the names were simply going to be handled by a different government agency (the Swedish Tax Agency) going forward.
I wanted to be annoyed about this deception, but my annoyance evaporated after I learned that the Swedish Tax Agency had released all of the country’s 2023 baby name data — meaning that we could finally check out Sweden’s rare and unique names (yay!).
So, without further ado, let’s take a look…
Sweden welcomed 100,051 babies in 2023. What were the most popular names among these babies? Vera and Noah.
Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:
Girl names
- Vera, 608 baby girls
- Elsa, 603
- Alma, 597
- Selma, 538
- Alice, 512
- Signe, 494
- Ellie, 490
- Olivia, 488
- Astrid, 470
- Ella, 467
- Stella, 447
- Maja, 442
- Freja, 434
- Saga, 426
- Alva, 415
- Agnes, 392
- Ebba, 381
- Leah, 375
- Alba, 365
- Hedda, 362
- Iris, 344
- Wilma, 341
- Ines, 339
- Alicia, 335
- Mila, 332
- Luna, 304
- Lilly, 292
- Sigrid, 288
- Elvira, 286
- Leia, 280
- Juni, 274
- Julia, 258
- Hilma, 256
- Clara, 253
- Majken, 242 (tie)
- Molly, 242 (tie)
- Ellen, 241
- Ester, 238 (tie)
- Lykke, 238 (tie)
- Lily, 236
- Nora, 232
- Ingrid, 226
- Nova, 223
- Edith, 205
- Livia, 204
- Sally, 203
- Lea, 198
- Tyra, 194
- Liv, 193
- Esther, 192
Boy names
- Noah, 687 baby boys
- Hugo, 652
- William, 565
- Liam, 558
- Nils, 536
- Oliver, 517
- Elias, 516
- Adam, 507
- August, 506
- Sam, 504
- Alfred, 485
- Otto, 479
- Leo, 463
- Leon, 415
- Frans, 414
- Charlie, 388
- Olle, 372
- Theo, 366
- Harry, 362
- Arvid, 351
- Ludvig, 350
- Malte, 345
- Ebbe, 338 (tie)
- Lucas, 338 (tie)
- Tage, 330
- Elliot, 327
- Henry, 326
- Adrian, 322
- Gabriel, 319
- Elton, 318
- Ted, 317
- Walter, 314
- Vincent, 296
- Alexander, 294 (tie)
- Oscar, 294 (tie)
- Valter, 293
- Benjamin, 282
- Noel, 274 (tie)
- Theodor, 274 (tie)
- Jack, 268 (tie)
- Viggo, 268 (tie)
- Axel, 264
- Albin, 256
- Melker, 251
- Levi, 240
- Isak, 236
- Dante, 233
- Lukas, 230
- Matteo, 226
- Hjalmar, 225
The top names of 2022, Astrid and William, dropped to ninth place and third place, respectively.
The boys’ top 100 included Ture (53rd), Vidar (55th), Loke (71st), and Bill (97th).
The girls’ top 100 included Tuva (66th), Stina (75th), Lo (78th), and Eira (81st).
Farther down on the girls’ list I spotted Madicken, which was given to 15 babies last year. Swedish author Astrid Lindgren featured a fictional 7-year-old girl named Margareta “Madicken” Engström in several of her children’s books. (Lindgren had named the character after a childhood friend, Anne-Marie, whose nickname was Madicken.)
And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a sampling of the more than 8,000 names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:
| Unique girl names | Unique boy names |
| Älva, Bergþóra, Cyrine, Dahlina, Elfie, Frigga, Glittra, Holland, Iseline, Jinjin, Källa, Lavendel, Minélle, Neoliva, Ornina, Pommelinn, Qellie, Rauline, Sigunn, Thaïs, Undin, Virvla, Winta, Xanne, Yrja, Ztella | Asterix, Bornwell, Casbian, Delton, Ejnar, Frenne, Grimm, Hälge, Ingemund, Jingda, Kasjan, Lillebror, Mjalton, Nille, Öivind, Palomino, Qingfeng, Robiel, Skjómi, Toste, Uzeer, Villie, Williott, Xanto, Yosia, Zillas |
Some definitions/associations for a few of the above:
- Glittra means “to glitter” in Swedish.
- Källa means “source” in Swedish. (Originally it referred to a source of water, such as a spring or a well.)
- Lavendel means “lavender” in Swedish (and several other languages).
- Lillebror means “little brother” in Swedish.
- Mjalton refers to Mjältön, an island in Sweden.
- Skjómi, an Old Norse word meaning “a flickering light,” was used metaphorically in Skaldic poetry to refer to a drawn sword.
- Virvla means “to whirl” in Swedish. (The related noun virvel means “vortex.”)
Sources: Elsa och Noah populäraste namnen hos nyfödda – Skatteverket, Namn på nyfödda – Skatteverket, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Madicken (Mardie) – Astrid Lindgren, Wiktionary, skjómi – Lexicon Poeticum, skjómi – Old Norse Dictionary
Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)
Lillebror would be such a good name for a kitten or puppy in a house with older pets. I will have to keep that one in mind for the future.
I love Sweden and the Swedish language. I was learning it on a language app during the pandemic — I should get back to it.
This post is a delight! I’ve searched the Statistics database several times but have longed for a Swedish baby name book with more info, but apparently such books are not published there. Now I will have to keep an eye on the new database going forward!
Who knew Sweden had such awesome names? My new favorite is Eira!