Appendix:Swedish given names

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Main category: Swedish given names

About Swedish given names

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Swedish given names tend to go in and out of fashion. Usually a name will be unfashionable for about 80 years before coming back in fashion. Most names stay popular for about ten years, leading to the possibility of guessing a Swede's age-group by his or her name. Names that are consistently popular, regardless of fashion waves, exist but are few. Some such names are Anna and Erik.

As opposed to many Hindu, Persian and Spanish names the meaning of a Swedish name is rarely obvious. While many Persian names correspond directly to a noun, in Sweden people rarely know the exact meaning of the name they give their child and if they do it's been found out after investigation. Few names, such as Björn ("bear") and Liv ("life"), are nouns spelled the same way and with an actual modern meaning.

In general the names can be divided into four categories, based on their origin.

  • The native Swedish names of Norse origin that are often the same in Danish, and Norwegian. A good example would be Ingrid, very common in Sweden and often perceived as a good, proper, Scandinavian name, examplified by Ingrid Bergman.
  • Names incorporated in Sweden through Latin and Hebrew, due to the arrival of Christianity in the 11th century. While some Biblical names are completely obsolete or even found amusing others are extremely common and has proven lasting popularity.
  • Foreign names come into Sweden through influence of other languages and cultures. There are most commonly of German, French or English origin and most of them have been around in Swedish mental database of names for centuries. An example is Oscar, which became popular with the birth of the Swedish crown-prince later to become Oskar I and still today is very common. Historically the royal family of Sweden were the main source in popularizing new names or re-instating old ones, and to some extent still are.
  • The relatively new names due to immigration and cultural influence. Examples of these are Mohammad, popular amongst Swedens Muslim immigrants, Kevin, made popular in the early nineties by the Home Alone movie and Anita, an originally Spanish name very common amongst Swedish women born in the thirties and forties, for example Anita Ekberg.

Certain names may be both pronounceable and recognizeable to Swedes but will simply not be functional. While names like Cordelia, Flavio, Griselda and Hector are common and highly functional in many other countries, they appear ridiculous in Swedish context and would quite possibly be used in fiction to attain comical effect.

The most common given names in Sweden 1890 - 2008

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This list includes all names that occurred at least 30 000 times as first or middle names among the Swedish citizens alive in 1973, 1995 or/and 2008. Names in bold occurred at least 100 000 times. The decade tells when the name was most common. The "1890s" group includes some persons born in 1865-1889.

Male

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Alexander 1990s-2000s
Alf 1930s
Allan 1920s
Anders 1960s
Andreas 1980s
Anton 1990s
Arne 1920s
Arvid 1900s
Axel 1890s, 2000s
Bengt 1940s
Bertil 1920s
Birger 1920s
Björn 1970s
Bo 1940s
Bror 1910s
Börje 1930s
Carl 1990s
Christer 1940s
Christian 1980s
Daniel 1980s
David 1980s
Einar 1900s
Emanuel 1910s
Emil 1890s, 2000s
Eric 1990s
Erik 1910s-1930s
Ernst 1900s
Evert 1920s
Folke 1910s
Fredrik 1970s
Georg 1910s
Gunnar 1910s-1940s
Gustaf 1910s
Gustav 1890s, 1990s
Göran 1940s
Gösta 1910s
Hans 1930s-1970s
Harald 1910s
Harry 1910s
Henrik 1970s
Henry 1920s
Håkan 1960s
Ingemar 1930s
Ingvar 1930s
Ivar 1910s
Jan 1960s
Johan 1890s, 1980s
Johannes 1990s
John 1910s
Jonas 1970s
Karl 1910s
Kent 1950s
Kjell 1940s
Knut 1910s
Kurt 1930s
Lars 1940s-1970s
Leif 1940s
Lennart 1930s
Magnus 1970s
Marcus 1990s
Martin 1980s
Mats 1960s
Mattias 1970s
Michael 1960s
Mikael 1960s
Niklas 1970s
Nils 1920s
Olof 1920s-1930s
Olov 1930s
Oskar 1890s, 2000s
Ove 1940s
Patrik 1970s
Per 1960s
Peter 1960s
Ragnar 1910s
Robert 1970s
Roger 1960s
Roland 1940s
Rolf 1930s
Rune 1920s
Sebastian 1990s
Simon 1990s
Stefan 1960s
Sten 1930s
Stig 1930s
Sven 1930s
Thomas 1960s
Tobias 1990s
Tomas 1960s
Tommy 1950s
Torsten 1920s
Ulf 1960s
Valdemar 1900s
Vilhelm 1910s
William 2000s
Åke 1940s

Female

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Agneta 1950s
Alice 1910s, 2000s
Amanda 1990s
Anette 1960s
Anita 1940s
Ann 1960s
Anna 1890s, 1970s
Annika 1960s
Astrid 1900s
Barbro 1930s
Berit 1930s
Birgit 1920s
Birgitta 1940s
Britt 1930s
Camilla 1970s
Carina 1960s
Caroline 1980s
Cecilia 1970s
Charlotta 1890s
Christina 1960s
Edit 1900s
Elin 1890s, 1990s
Elisabet 1890s
Elisabeth 1960s
Elsa 1890s, 2000s
Emma 1890s, 1990s
Ester 1890s
Eva 1950s
Greta 1910s
Gun 1930s
Gunborg 1920s
Gunhild 1900s
Gunilla 1940s
Gunvor 1930s
Hanna 1990s
Helena 1970s
Ida 1890s, 2000s
Inga 1920s
Ingeborg 1890s
Ingegerd 1920s
Ingegärd 1920s
Inger 1940s
Ingrid 1920s
Irene 1930s
Jenny 1970s
Johanna 1990s
Julia 1990s
Karin 1950s
Karolina 1890s
Katarina 1890s, 1960s
Kerstin 1940s
Kristina 1890s
Lena 1950s
Linda 1970s
Linnea 1900s, 1990s
Linnéa 1900s, 1990s
Lisa 1910s, 1990s
Louise 1990s
Maj 1920s
Malin 1970s
Margareta 1940s
Margit 1910s
Maria 1890s
Marie 1960s
Matilda 1890s, 2000s
Monica 1940s
Märta 1900s
Rut 1890s
Sara 1980s
Signe 1890s
Siv 1930s
Sofia 1890s, 1990s
Sonja 1930s
Susanne 1960s
Svea 1900s
Therese 1980s
Ulla 1930s
Ulrika 1970s
Viktoria 1890s
Viola 1910s
Yvonne 1950s
Åsa 1970s

Sources

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  • Sture Allén, Staffan Wahlin, Förnamnsboken, Almqvist&Wiksell 1979, →ISBN
  • Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN
  • Statistics Sweden Date of last access October 8, 2009

Rare names outside the Swedish given name categories

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The origin of this list is not known. It may include errors and non-Swedish names.

Male

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A

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B

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C

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D

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E

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F

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G

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H

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I

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J

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K

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L

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M

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N

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O

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P

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R

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S

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T

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U

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Ubbe
Udalricus
Udd
Ulv
Une

V

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W

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Y

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Yngvar
Yngve-Frej
Ynzve
Yrjö
Yusuf

Z

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Zoltan
ziran
zohran
Zoran

Å

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Ö

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Female

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A

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B

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C

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D

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E

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F

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G

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H

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I

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J

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K

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L

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M

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N

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O

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P

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R

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S

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T

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U

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V

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Y

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Yasmine
Yrsa
Yvette

Z

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Å

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Ä

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Ö

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Old Swedish and dialectal names

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Male

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Female

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Adelheid
Adhelin
Aimée
Asgärd
Christ
Dammö
Emfrid
Eljena
Ellena
Fiorentina
Fransiska
Geska
Gillian
Grid
Gyrid
Göle
Gölig
Hebbla
Hildr
Ingelöv
Ingiärd
Jesca
Kjellög
Nerthus
Oleana
Olu
Ragnil
Rangela
Rosemarie
Rådgärd
Rågiähl
Rågierdh
Truen
Tullia
Viviana

Swedish male hypocoristic forming

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In Sweden (or Scandinavia in general) a typical Germanic hypocoristic pet form forming is to trunk the whole name, doubling (germinating) the end consonant, and put an E at the end. Kalle and Olle are such examples.

Whole name Trunc form Gemination E-suffix Hypocorism
Adolf Ad- dd e Adde
Åke Ak- kk, ck e Acke
Albert A(l)b- bb, ll e Abbe, Alle
Alfred A(l)f- ff e Affe
Anders An- nn e Anne
Birger Bi(r)g- gg e Bigge, Birre
Bo Bo ss e Bosse
Carl Ca(r)l ll e Calle
Daniel Dan nn e Danne
Gudmund Gu(d)m- mm e Gumme, Gudde
Hans Ha(n)s- ss e Hasse, Hanne
Karl Ka(r)l- ll e Kalle
Lars La(r) ss e Lasse
Lennart Le ll e Lelle
Olof Ol- ll e Olle
Per Pe(r) ll e Pelle
Sigbjörn Si(g)b- bb e Sibbe, Sigge
Sigurd Sig- gg e Sigge
Torbjörn To(r)b- bb e Tobbe
Torleif To(r)l- ll e Tolle
Vilhelm Vil- ll e Ville

References

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