This blog post features a list of some of the most popular boy names in Sweden with interesting origins. We love this list because it gives me some insight into how people in other cultures choose the names for their kids. In addition, the list includes those Swedish boys that were chosen to play Harry Potter in its film adaptations! This is really fun to think about and it makes me wonder if there are any Swedish girls who have been chosen for these types of roles.
It is based on statistics from the Swedish population registry, which tracks people’s names. This gives a ranking of boys names on a per-thousand basis, showing us the most popular names for little Swedish boys.
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1. Lukas
This name has a global impact, with spellings like Lucas, Lukas, and even “Luka”. The name comes from the Greek word “Loukas,” which means a man from Lucania. It’s also been adopted in Sweden, Germany, and other places. Lukas is a trendy Swedish boy’s name that means “light.”
2. Leo
This Greek name means “lion.” It’s one of the top two boy names in Sweden, with a spelling variant “Leo”. As the son of Jupiter and the brother of the twins, Julius and Marcus, Leo is a Roman name which has been carried over to the Swedish system. A close cousin is Ville or Vilhelm, which comes from the Germanic name “Willhelm” and was popular in Sweden during World War II for boys named after Adolf Hitler.
3. Elias
Elias is another name with the Greek origin “elos,” which means “the god of the light.” The name was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages, and it was one of the top ten names for boys born in Sweden in 2013.
4. Oscar
This Latin name has a close resemblance to/connection to Paolo and Ollanta, but that is where their similarities end. The name comes from the name, “Oscar,” which means “one who makes peace.”
5. Alfred
Alfred is an Old English name, which means “bear friend” and was used as a medieval family name. It was popular in Sweden during the 1500s, but fell out of use around the start of the 1900’s.
6. Hugo
Hugo is another Latin name meaning “little/short wolf.” Its Swedish form is “Hugo”, which becomes one of the top ten names for boys born in Sweden in 2013.
7. Lennox
Lennox is a Latin name which means “wanderer” and was very popular in Sweden during the early 1900’s. The name is also spelled as “Lennon.” It entered the Swedish registry around 1840, and if you look at the list of names by popularity section above it shows that this has been one of the top ten boy names in Sweden for multiple years.
8. Ludvig
Ludvig is a Swedish name, which means “one who conquers evil.” One of the top ten baby names in Sweden today.
9. Anton
An official national variant of Antonio, this is another Latin name, meaning “ready to help.” It’s not one of the most popular names in Sweden today and it hasn’t been very popular in the country for centuries.
10. Nils
Another name with the Swedish spelling of “Nils”, this name is a Swedish variation of the Old Norse name “Niels,” which means “one who conquers everything.” In addition, Nils has a close resemblance to one of my favorite names, Oleksandr, or Oleksandr (Oleksander). This name means “god given,” which was famous in Sweden during World War II for boys named after Adolf Hitler.
11. Walter
Walter is another Old English name, which means “the wanderer” and was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
12. Stefan
A close Germanic relative to the name, Steven, Stefan is an ancient Greek name, which means “crown.” It’s one of the most popular names in Sweden and it’s been adopted in multiple countries.
13. Oliver
Oliver is another Latin name, meaning “olive tree.” The name was adopted into the Swedish system during the Middle Ages, but it never became popular in Sweden until the early 1900’s.
14. Lars
Lars is a Swedish variation of the name, “Lorentz” meaning “famous viking.” The name was originally used in Sweden for boys named after Viking leader. It’s not one of the most popular names in Sweden today, but it is one of the top ten boy names for 2018 so far.
15. Antonius
Antonius was a popular ancient Roman name which means “ready to help” and was popular in Sweden during the early 1900’s. It’s one of the top ten boy names for 2018 so far.
16. Liam
Another name with the spelling of “Liam,” this name is a Scandinavian variation of the Gaelic name “Liam,” which means “the light.” The name was popular in Sweden during World War II for boys named after Adolf Hitler.
17. Marcus
Marcus is a Latin name, meaning “the ruler.” The name is popular in Sweden, but not nearly as popular as the next brother on this list.
18. Ulrik
Ulrik is an alternative spelling of the name, “Ulrich” which originated in Germany and Austria. The name means “power-ruler” or “rule of power” in Germanic.
19. Paul
Paul is another Latin name, meaning “small, humble,” which was popularized as a French variant, Pauline. It’s one of the top ten boy names in Sweden today and it was used by Pope Paul VI and his successor, Pope John Paul II.
20. Oskar
Oskar is the Swedish and Norwegian spelling of the German name “Osgar” which means “help, support, victory.” The name was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden and it’s one of the top ten boy names for 2018 so far.
21. Edward
Another Old English name, Edward means “wealthy man.” The name was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
22. Egil
The name Egil comes from the Old Norse version of the title, with the double “l”. This name is a great choice for any young boy.
23. Ivor
Ivor is a Latin name which means “a gift from God.” The name is popular in Sweden but not very popular in the country today.
24. Alexander
This Greek name means “defending and protecting.”
25. Gunnar
This Old Norse name meant, “Gunnar’s friend.” The name was popular in Sweden in the 1400s and it is one of the top ten boy names for 2018 so far.
26. Erik
Erik is an alternate spelling of the old Norse name “Ariks,” which means “the one who defends.” Another name for boys born in Sweden in 2015 was Eskil, which is also a variant of ikil, meaning “one who defends.”
27. Karl
Karl is an Old Norse name that means “man.”
28. Magnus
Another possible variant name for boys born in Sweden in the last couple of years was Magnus. It is yet another variant of Martin, which means “protector of the people.”
29. Klas
A Swedish version of the old German name “Klaus,” which means “people’s defender.”
30. Leif
Leif is one of the top ten names for baby boys born in Sweden in 2015. The name comes from the old Norse word “leif,” which means “descendant.”
31. Kenny
This Old English name meant “the one who rules with a sword.” It’s a great choice for any young boy!
32. Torsten
Torsten is an Old Norse variation of the German name, Thost, which means “Thor’s stone.” This name was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
33. Otto
A version of the German name, “Ottar”, which comes from the old Norse word “Ottr,” a great choice for a Scandinavian baby boy!
34. Sten
Sten was a popular old Swedish name which means “stone.” This is another name for a Scandinavian born in 2015.
35. Viktor
An alternate variant of Victor, the Latin variation of the Roman god, “Virgo,” which means “crowned.”
36. Ville
A French name, Ville means “city.” The name was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
37. Wilhelm
Wilhelm is a German name which is a variation of Willehelm, which means “helmeted defender.” The name was popular in Sweden during the early 1900’s.
38. Ylva
Ylva is an Old Norse variation of Elsa, which means “the bright one.” This is another name for a Scandinavian born in Sweden in the last year or so.
39. Vincent
Vincent is a Latin name which means “conquerer.”
40. Olof
Olof is a variation of the old Swedish name, Oluf and means “Ulf’s descendant.”
41. Alex
This Old English name is a variation of Alexander, which means “defending and protecting.” This name for boys was popular in Sweden during the early 1900’s.
42. Hugo
Hugo is an Old Norse name meaning “dear protector.” The name was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
43. Malte
Malte is a Germanic name which means “bright and warlike.” The name was popular in Sweden during WWII for boys named after Adolf Hitler.
44. Einar
Einar is another Scandinavian variation for boys born in Sweden and means “evening star.”
45. Ted
Ted is an Old English name which means “bitter.”
46. Alfons
Alfons is a German name which means “wise and ready.”
47. Gerhart
Gerhart is a Germanic name which means “spear-man.” The name was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
48. Gunnar
Another possible variation of the Old Norse name, Gunnar, which means “the one who rules with power.”
49. Ingvar
Ingvar is an upper class Swedish name which means “warrior elf” and is pronounced like the word “Ingwer.” This name for boys was popular in Sweden during the early 1900’s.
50. Halvar
A Swedish name with a Slavic origin which means “brave and fearless.”
51. Ragnar
Ragnar is an Old Norse variation of the German name “Ragnhard,” which means “advice-brave and strong.”
52. Bjorn
A popular Swedish name that means “bear” or “bear cub.”
53. Sigge
Sigge is a variant of Sighvat, which means “battle-bold.” This name was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
54. Sven
Sven is an Old Norse name meaning “from the tribe” and was popular in Sweden during the early 1900s.
55. Ernst
Ernst was a popular old Swedish name that means “manly.”
56. Torgny
Torgny is a Swedish name that means “tough and strong.”
57. Torsten
Torsten is one of the top ten names for baby boys born in Sweden during the 20th century. This Old Norse name means “Thor’s stone.”
58. Bjorn
A Swedish variation of the Old Norse name, Bjorn, which means “bear” or “bear cub.”
59. Ulf
Ulf is a Swedish name that means “wolf.” This name was popular during the Middle Ages.
60. Viggo
Viggo is gaining worldwide recognition, but it is still most popular in Scandinavia. The title is derived from the Old Norse name Vigge, which means “battle” or “fight”.
61. Ansgar
In Sweden Ansgar is used to honor the 8th-century missionary who worked in Scandinavia. This name means “god’s spear” or “god’s warrior.”
62. Balder
As the legend goes, when Balder was killed by Hodur, his wife Nanna died of a broken heart. This name is based on the legend of Balder and popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
63. Gösta
This name, which means “bright” or “glad,” is a popular name for boys born in Sweden in the 1900s and 2000s.
64. Gustaf
Gustaf is a Swedish variation of the Old Norse name Góði, which means “god’s spear.” This was also a popular name during the Middle Ages.
65. Kurt
Kurt is an Old German name that means “peasant.” It’s yet another variation of the popular German name, Ludwig.
66. Pontus
Pontus is a Greek and Swedish name meaning “the sea.”
67. Åke
Oke is a Swedish variation that means “eagle.” This was also a popular name during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
68.Ingemar
Ingemar is a Swedish name that means “warrior of Ing” in honor of the old Swedish god, Ing.
69. Mats
Mats is a Swedish name which originally means “battle.”
70. Olle
Olle is a Swedish name that was popular during the Middle Ages.
71. Thor
You might not believe this, but the boy’s name Thor is derived from the Norse god of thunder.
72. Bruce
Bruce comes from the Norse word “bruis”, which means “sword.” This name was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
73. Loke
A Scandinavian short form of the Old Norse name Ljotr, which means “Loki’s son.”
74. Richard
Richard is a Germanic name that means “beloved.” This was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
75. Salomon
Salomon is a Germanic name derived from the Hebrew name “Shalom,” which means “peace.” This was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
76. Acke
This Old Norse name means “Mjölnir,” which is the name of Thor’s hammer. This was a popular Norwegian and Swedish variation.
77. Sigfrid
This Scandinavian variation of the Germanic name Siegfried means “victorious peace.”
78. Sandra
Sandra was used as a girl’s name by Thomas Nast in his comic strip, Our American Family, in 1872.
79. Adolf
This Germanic name, which means “noble wolf” and was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
80. Edvin
Edvin is a variation of the Old Norse name Edvard, which means “guardian of prosperity.”
81. Petter
Petter is a Swedish adaptation of the Greek name Petra, meaning “rock.” This was a popular name during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
82. Casper
Casper is a Danish variation of the Greek name Kaspianos, which means “the one having a forked beard.” This was popular in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
83. Knut
Knut is an Old Norse name meaning “battle.”
84. Lilliput
Lilliput was the popular name of a doll that Thomas Nast used in his popular comic strip, Our American Family, in 1872.
85. Claes
Claes was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
86. Osle
Osle is a variation of the Old Norse name Ale, which means “flame.”
87. Kalle
Kalle is a Swedish version of the name Carolus or Carlo, which means “emperor.” This was a popular name during the Middle Ages in Sweden and Finland.
88. Lennart
“Lennart” means “ancient power.” This name was popular during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
89. Gunborg
Gunborg is an Old Norse name meaning “war-strength.”
90. Rolf
Rolf means “wolf” or “wolf cub” and was a popular name during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
91. Eskil
Eskil is derived from the Old Norse name Eormenric, which means “from the helmet.”
92. Esbjörn
Esbjörn means “eagle’s berry.”
93. Fredrik
Fredrik is a good boy name if you want something a little different for your child. This title also has Hungarian elements. “Peaceful ruler” Fredrik.
94. Viktor
Viktor comes from the Old Norse name Víkar which means “enterprising.” Viktor was given to the Hanseatic League in honor of Víkar the ship. This name was a popular name during the Middle Ages in Sweden.
95. Magne
Magne is a variant of Magnus, which means “strength and power.”
96. Noah
Noah was a popular name in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
97. Malin
Malin is a Swedish version of the name Mary, which means “bitter” or “sorrowful.”
98. Isak
Isak is a variant of the Old Norse and Germanic name Isaac, which means “laughter.” This was one of the most popular names in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
99. Elliot
Although a popular English name, Elliot is an English variation of the French name Elie which means “My God is the Lord.” It’s actually pronounced “A-lee.”
100. Veli
Veli is a Scandinavian variation of the name Will or Wilhelmina, which means “desire.” This was one of the most popular names in Sweden during the Middle Ages.
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