Swedish Names – Common Swedish Male / Female / Last Names

Sweden sits between Norway and Finland, squarely within the Scandinavian region. It consists of several tidal cities and island communities that are connected via bridges. Generally, Sweden’s climate is very cool. 

Swedish names are names that are typical found in Sweden. In Swedish, the first names precede the surname or surnames. First names are also called baptismal names and one or more are used as first names. The most common name for women in Sweden is Anna and for men it is Lars.

Much of Swedish culture and history is based around fishing, exploration, and self-sustainability. Consequently, the Swedish people are known for their humility and peaceful policies.

Below you will find lists of some of the most common female, male and last names in Sweden.

Common Names in Sweden

About 10 million people live in Sweden, so naturally some first names are bound to get repeated. The most common first names among Swedish citizens include Anna for women and Lars for men. 

Generally, the most common Swedish names among the people in Sweden are:

• Anna
• Eva
• Maria
• Karin
• Kristina
• Lars
• Mikael
• Anders
• Johan
• Erik

See complete lists below: Top 100 Swedish Male Names and Top 100 Swedish Female Names

Many of these names come from Hebrew names or words, though some come from Latin and Greek first names or titles. As such, it’s not a stretch to say that Sweden’s most common names show signs of significant and long-term Western influence.

For example, the massive population of Annas and Mikaels would not be possible had it not been for the Christianization of Scandinavia and the spread of the Latin alphabet. Still, it is somewhat surprising to see such old influences continuing to hold sway today, especially given that many Nordic nations are fervently proud of their history and paganistic pasts.

To understand Sweden’s truly Nordic names, you may need to dig deep into its cultural emergence. Some of the oldest Swedish names, for example, include phrases that are now extinct in the modern Swedish language.

Old Names in Sweden

Old Swedish descended from a subtype of Old Norse, and there are tons of Old Swedish names that display this Nordic connection. Let’s explore some examples of Old Swedish names that aren’t as popular nowadays as they were in ancient times. 

For example, three Old Swedish names that are worth a second look include:

• Afridh
• Hjälm
• Järl

The third name, Järl, was the title given to royal patriarchs in Sweden during medieval times. As a first name, it probably didn’t enter into existence until well into the 14th century. That’s because Swedish royalty was still using this title up until the late 1200s. 

When the last Swedish Järl died in 1266, Swedish families may have started to covertly name their sons Järl in honor of the extinct Nordic royal namesake.

Read: Old Norse Names

Female Names in Sweden

Some trends continue to hold, including the name ‘Anna’ for females. It’s currently the most common name for women and girls in Sweden, and it’s also a popular Swedish baby name for female infants. 

The five most common female names in Sweden are:

• Anna
• Eva
• Maria
• Karin
• Kristina

Anna, the most common female name in Sweden, has Greek and Hebrew origins. It most nearly means “grace” or “beauty.” Eva also has Hebrew origins and is often anglicized or Latinized to Eve. Maria is another form of Mary and yet another name with Hebrew beginnings.

Overall, Karin might be the most Nordic of all these feminine names. That’s a bit sad, especially when you consider that Karin comes from Katherine, a name with Greek origins. Still, Western names seem to have been popular in Sweden for many years now.

Read: Most popular baby girl names

Male Names in Sweden

When tracking the changes in naming trends in a specific country, it’s crucial to observe all types of names. Interestingly, Sweden seems to have seen a difference in boys’ names over the last several years. 

While Lars and Mikael have been longtime favorites of the Swedish population, Lucas and Liam are quickly giving those more common names a run for their money. The most popular boys’ names in Sweden (in descending order of popularity) are:

• Lucas
• Liam/William
• Elias
• Noah
• Hugo

None of these names have distinctly Nordic origins, which may change how future generations view Sweden and common Swedish names. Generally, most of these names are derived from Hebrew names and words as well as Latin names and expressions.

The name William comes from various cultures and languages, including Proto-Germanic, Old French, and Old English. Out of all the above boys’ names, Hugo may have the closest ties to Old Norse. It is an old Germanic name meaning “mind”.

Read: Most popular baby boy names

Last Names in Sweden

Like many other Nordic countries, Sweden has a history of using a patronymic naming system. This means that children were given unique surnames that were based on their father’s first name as well as their gender. 

For example, a Nordic man named Erik that had a son might name that child Agmunðr (roughly meaning “hand of terror”), but the child’s full name would be Agmunðr Eriksson. If Erik’s child were a girl, the surname would become Eriksdotter. 

In the 1800s, Sweden’s tradition of patronymic naming ended. Families generally decided to adopt a singular family name. Curiously, these families unanimously opted for the masculine patronymic versions of their names, resulting in virtually zero Swedish surnames ending with “dotter”.

Still, due to this commonality, we can easily measure and address the most common Swedish surnames, which are:

• Andersson
• Johansson
• Karlsson
• Nilsson
• Eriksson
• Etc. See complete list below.

You can use these surnames’ widespread nature to gauge previous naming trends, as each one of these last names corresponds to a time with patronymic naming reigned. For example, the prevalence of the surname Andersson says that the first name Anders was prevalent in the past.

100 Most Common Swedish Female Names

Rank	Female Names	Count
1	Anna	100 259
2	Eva	85 432
3	Maria	85 164
4	Karin	65 183
5	Sara	58 174
6	Kristina	57 931
7	Lena	56 854
8	Emma	50 854
9	Kerstin	48 029
10	Marie	41 077
11	Malin	40 433
12	Ingrid	40 398
13	Jenny	39 837
14	Hanna	38 446
15	Linda	38 313
16	Annika	38 271
17	Susanne	37 627
18	Elin	37 619
19	Monica	37 256
20	Birgitta	37 172
21	Sofia	35 382
22	Johanna	34 334
23	Inger	34 319
24	Carina	32 867
25	Elisabeth	31 884
26	Julia	31 450
27	Ulla	30 588
28	Katarina	29 519
29	Linnéa	29 512
30	Emelie	28 883
31	Ida	28 803
32	Helena	27 559
33	Camilla	27 218
34	Åsa	27 047
35	Anette	27 027
36	Sandra	26 244
37	Gunilla	25 740
38	Anita	25 340
39	Maja	25 048
40	Marianne	24 963
41	Margareta	24 866
42	Amanda	24 545
43	Anneli	24 451
44	Therese	24 173
45	Ann	24 117
46	Josefin	23 878
47	Cecilia	23 502
48	Jessica	23 326
49	Helen	23 123
50	Lisa	22 316
51	Matilda	21 985
52	Caroline	21 955
53	Alice	21 792
54	Frida	21 778
55	Ulrika	21 457
56	Elsa	21 343
57	Barbro	21 049
58	Siv	20 391
59	Rebecca	19 400
60	Madeleine	19 386
61	Klara	19 172
62	Ebba	19 102
63	Sofie	18 400
64	Isabelle	17 994
65	Agneta	17 987
66	Gun	17 686
67	Wilma	17 422
68	Lina	17 349
69	Berit	17 311
70	Pia	16 993
71	Ella	16 707
72	Ellen	16 099
73	Yvonne	15 960
74	Louise	15 906
75	Astrid	15 860
76	Moa	15 662
77	Olivia	15 654
78	Nathalie	15 479
79	Mona	15 473
80	Agnes	15 341
81	Emilia	15 340
82	Alexandra	15 310
83	Alva	15 277
84	Britt	15 237
85	Erika	15 216
86	Viktoria	15 215
87	Ann-Christin	14 971
88	Felicia	14 669
89	Ann-Marie	13 951
90	Sonja	13 291
91	Britt-Marie	13 208
92	Pernilla	13 177
93	Lovisa	13 074
94	Charlotte	12 757
95	Linn	12 635
96	Gunnel	12 547
97	Nina	12 397
98	Mikaela	12 224
99	Karolina	12 209
100	Lisbeth	12 165

100 Most Common Swedish Male Names

Rank	Male Names	Count
1	Lars	83 396
2	Mikael	79 760
3	Anders	76 856
4	Johan	74 652
5	Erik	65 824
6	Per	64 294
7	Peter	62 207
8	Karl	60 784
9	Thomas	60 712
10	Jan	58 242
11	Daniel	57 654
12	Fredrik	54 569
13	Andreas	45 564
14	Hans	45 278
15	Stefan	44 942
16	Mohamed	44 825
17	Mats	43 011
18	Marcus	42 860
19	Mattias	41 894
20	Magnus	41 667
21	Jonas	41 057
22	Oskar	40 856
23	Alexander	40 473
24	Niklas	39 774
25	Bengt	39 684
26	Martin	39 183
27	Bo	37 713
28	Nils	36 223
29	Viktor	35 501
30	Patrik	35 343
31	Björn	34 767
32	David	33 372
33	Leif	33 128
34	Filip	32 924
35	Henrik	32 793
36	Joakim	32 350
37	Emil	32 013
38	Christer	31 862
39	Ulf	31 597
40	Sven	31 355
41	Simon	31 121
42	Christoffer	29 709
43	Anton	28 776
44	Gustav	27 928
45	Robert	27 893
46	Christian	27 732
47	William	27 729
48	Tommy	27 549
49	Kjell	26 880
50	Lucas	26 753
51	Rickard	25 937
52	Håkan	25 526
53	Adam	24 701
54	Göran	24 681
55	Jakob	23 619
56	Jonathan	23 410
57	Rolf	23 345
58	Lennart	23 127
59	Robin	23 073
60	Sebastian	23 016
61	Elias	22 619
62	Tobias	22 241
63	John	21 357
64	Stig	20 837
65	Axel	20 536
66	Linus	20 046
67	Oliver	19 720
68	Kent	19 363
69	Hugo	19 044
70	Isak	18 738
71	Roger	18 601
72	Jesper	17 527
73	Claes	17 378
74	Albin	17 084
75	Ludvig	16 540
76	Jörgen	16 434
77	Rasmus	16 420
78	Max	16 008
79	Ali	15 999
80	Jimmy	15 798
81	Kenneth	15 452
82	Joel	15 363
83	Gunnar	14 854
84	Dennis	14 747
85	Josef	14 690
86	Johnny	14 512
87	Olle	14 105
88	Liam	14 096
89	Leo	13 836
90	Olof	13 814
91	Pontus	13 367
92	Åke	13 345
93	Kurt	12 990
94	Kevin	12 976
95	Samuel	12 812
96	Edvin	12 405
97	Gabriel	12 394
98	Torbjörn	12 380
99	Arvid	12 371
100	Felix	12 255

100 Most Common Swedish Last Names

Rank	Last Name	Count
1	Andersson	224 669
2	Johansson	223 196
3	Karlsson	199 027
4	Nilsson	153 251
5	Eriksson	134 683
6	Larsson	113 096
7	Olsson	101 961
8	Persson	96 344
9	Svensson	90 221
10	Gustafsson	88 272
11	Pettersson	85 760
12	Jonsson	67 432
13	Jansson	45 179
14	Hansson	39 948
15	Bengtsson	31 214
16	Jönsson	28 379
17	Lindberg	26 935
18	Jakobsson	25 435
19	Magnusson	24 850
20	Olofsson	24 216
21	Lindström	24 158
22	Lindqvist	22 324
23	Lindgren	22 052
24	Berg	21 453
25	Axelsson	21 445
26	Bergström	20 594
27	Lundberg	20 504
28	Lind	20 284
29	Lundgren	19 847
30	Lundqvist	19 512
31	Mattsson	18 749
32	Berglund	18 535
33	Fredriksson	17 511
34	Sandberg	17 300
35	Henriksson	16 735
36	Forsberg	16 237
37	Sjöberg	16 099
38	Ali	15 969
39	Wallin	15 806
40	Mohamed	15 639
41	Engström	15 224
42	Eklund	14 974
43	Danielsson	14 708
44	Lundin	14 647
45	Håkansson	14 350
46	Björk	14 086
47	Bergman	14 012
48	Gunnarsson	13 913
49	Holm	13 790
50	Wikström	13 702
51	Samuelsson	13 522
52	Isaksson	13 376
53	Fransson	13 258
54	Bergqvist	13 162
55	Nyström	12 956
56	Holmberg	12 818
57	Arvidsson	12 705
58	Löfgren	12 555
59	Söderberg	12 357
60	Nyberg	12 282
61	Blomqvist	12 157
62	Claesson	11 949
63	Nordström	11 887
64	Ahmed	11 768
65	Mårtensson	11 578
66	Lundström	11 419
67	Hassan	11 267
68	Viklund	11 226
69	Björklund	11 140
70	Eliasson	11 107
71	Pålsson	10 984
72	Berggren	10 968
73	Sandström	10 632
74	Lund	10 502
75	Nordin	10 483
76	Ström	10 211
77	Åberg	10 191
78	Falk	10 103
79	Ekström	10 079
80	Hermansson	10 064
81	Holmgren	9 865
82	Hellström	9 739
83	Dahlberg	9 732
84	Hedlund	9 696
85	Sundberg	9 593
86	Sjögren	9 586
87	Ek	9 447
88	Blom	9 396
89	Abrahamsson	9 223
90	Martinsson	9 201
91	Öberg	9 192
92	Andreasson	8 942
93	Strömberg	8 866
94	Månsson	8 839
95	Hansen	8 656
96	Åkesson	8 638
97	Dahl	8 568
98	Lindholm	8 536
99	Norberg	8 514
100	Holmqvist	8 473

Read: Most popular Swedish baby boy and baby girl names

Summary of Swedish Names

Today, many of the Swedish Names in existence came to Sweden during the period of Christianity or have a rich tradition from centuries ago. The most common Swedish name for a female is Anna and for a male it is Lars. The most common Last Name in Sweden is Andersson.