Last year, the Scandinavian country of Sweden welcomed 98,451 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Alma and Noah.
Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:
Girl names
- Alma, 568 baby girls
- Alice, 565
- Olivia, 552
- Elsa, 550
- Vera, 546
- Saga, 486
- Selma, 484
- Astrid, 473
- Ella, 472
- Signe, 458
- Freja, 455
- Ellie, 454
- Stella, 427
- Alba, 408
- Maja, 398
- Agnes, 373
- Alva, 367
- Leah, 350
- Hedda, 346
- Ebba, 340
- Mila, 322
- Luna, 319
- Lilly, 310
- Wilma, 303
- Iris, 300
- Ines, 291
- Juni, 290
- Alicia, 288
- Sigrid, 283
- Ellen, 254
- Ester, 251
- Leia, 248
- Nora, 244
- Majken, 242
- Lykke, 241
- Julia, 238
- Lily, 237 (tie)
- Molly, 237 (tie)
- Edith, 227
- Hilma, 224
- Elvira, 222
- Sally, 216
- Celine, 211
- Clara, 205
- Nova, 198
- Ingrid, 194
- Ilse, 190
- Livia, 189
- Bonnie, 185 (tie)
- Esther, 185 (tie)
Boy names
- Noah, 692 baby boys
- William, 574
- Hugo, 567
- Liam, 548
- Adam, 538 (tie)
- August, 538 (tie)
- Nils, 527
- Leo, 515
- Oliver, 514
- Otto, 491
- Sam, 490
- Alfred, 482
- Elias, 478
- Malte, 463
- Leon, 422
- Frans, 420
- Charlie, 404
- Ludvig, 396
- Ted, 377
- Theo, 376
- Valter, 375
- Olle, 371
- Gabriel, 347
- Arvid, 345
- Elliot, 343 (tie)
- Lucas, 343 (tie)
- Tage, 328
- Harry, 320
- Henry, 303 (tie)
- Theodor, 303 (tie)
- Björn, 291
- Ebbe, 285
- Vincent, 284
- Walter, 280
- Alexander, 277 (tie)
- Adrian, 277 (tie)
- Benjamin, 272
- Oscar, 264 (tie)
- Melker, 264 (tie)
- Elton, 260
- Jack, 259
- Noel, 258
- Axel, 251
- Kian, 244
- Viggo, 229
- Albin, 225
- Ivar, 224
- Lukas, 223
- Matteo, 218
- Julian, 217 (tie)
- Levi, 217 (tie)
In the girls’ top 10, Saga replaced Ellie.
In the boys’ top 10, Leo and Otto replaced Elias and Sam.
Four of the fastest-rising names were Celine and Junie (for girls) and Bo and Björn (for boys).
Lower down in the rankings I spotted…
- Penny (65 girls)
- Five more were named Pennie.
- Tindra (23 girls) – means “to twinkle” in Swedish
- Buster (10 boys)
- Tintin (6 girls, 4 boys)
- Texas (8 boys, 1 girl)
- Three more boys were named Tex, Texan, and Texaz.
- Grim (7 boys)
- Tibelia (5 girls)
- Fenrir (4 boys) – a giant wolf in Norse mythology
- Figge (4 boys) – a nickname for Fredrik
- Styrbjörn (3 boys)
- Lioness (2 girls)
- Valiant (2 boys)
And here’s a sampling of the thousands of names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:
| Unique girl names | Unique boy names |
| Allikin, Borealis, Cindelle, Darshini, Eldfrid, Frigg, Gizi, Hafdís, Issoria, Javeline, Kiwi, Lupin, Majliss, Ninorta, Orchidée, Päivi, Ririka, Siglind, Tanangoo, Unnati, Vyllma, Wanyin, Yangkyi, Zeeline | Alfrid, Brighter, Carwill, Dharav, Ejvind, Fafner, Gizmo, Hjälte, Imron, Jojje, Khangarid, Lindorm, Michigan, Nexus, Orchlon, Prodromos, Reijo, Sigsten, Thimmy, Ulve, Vigor, Wheffy, Yazn, Zirrar |
Some definitions/explanations for a few of the above:
- Allikin is the main character of the Swedish children’s book Allikin (1986) by Runo Lindskog.
- Borealis is a Latin word meaning “northern.”
- Frigg is a Norse goddess.
- The word Friday comes from the Old English word frigedæg, meaning “Frigg’s day.”
- Hafdís is an Icelandic name made up of elements meaning “sea” and “goddess.”
- Hjälte means “hero” in Swedish.
- Jojje is a diminutive of Georg, the Swedish form of George.
- Khangarid is the Mongolian name for Garuda, a mythical bird-like deity in Hinduism and Buddhism.
- The emblem of Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, features a Khangarid.
- Lindorm refers to a mythical snake-like creature in Nordic folklore.
- Päivi is a diminutive of the Finnish name Päivikki, which is based on the word päivä, meaning “day.”
- Prodromos is an Ancient Greek word meaning “forerunner.”
- Unnati is a Sanskrit word meaning “ascending” or “advancement.”
Sources:
- Namn på nyfödda – Skatteverket
- Alma och Noah vanligaste namnen hos nyfödda – Skatteverket (Jan. 2025)
- Björn och Bo – två av fjolårets trendande bebisnamn – Skatteverket (Jan. 2025)
- Födda i Sverige – SCB
- Wiktionary
Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)
