Names by country
Swedish names for characters
Popular Swedish first names by birth decade, common and regional surnames, pronunciation, and the naming rules writers trip over.
How Swedish names work
The -son names began as patronymics (Andersson, son of Anders) and became fixed family names in the late 1800s. From 1901 many Swedes took new nature names (Lindberg, linden and mountain) to stand out from the Anderssons. Double first names like Lars-Göran and Ann-Christin peaked in the 1940s to 60s.
First names by birth decade
Names drift in and out of fashion. Pick from the decade your character was born, not the year your story is set.
Born before 1950
Girls
- Kerstin SHAIR-stin
- Margareta
- Birgitta bir-YIT-tah
- Ingrid
- Karin KAH-rin
- Elisabeth
- Barbro
- Gunilla goo-NIL-lah
Boys
- Karl
- Lars
- Sven
- Bengt BENGT
- Gunnar
- Erik
- Rolf
- Bo BOO
Born 1950–64
Girls
- Eva
- Anna
- Maria
- Karin
- Ann-Marie
- Lena
- Anita
- Annika
Boys
- Lars
- Anders
- Per PAIR
- Mats
- Mikael MEE-kah-el
- Jan YAHN
- Hans
- Stefan
Born 1965–79
Girls
- Anna
- Maria
- Karin
- Sara
- Johanna yoo-HAN-nah
- Linda
- Malin MAH-lin
- Jenny YEN-nee
Boys
- Peter
- Mikael
- Andreas
- Johan YOO-han
- Fredrik
- Magnus
- Daniel
- Thomas
Born 1980–94
Girls
- Sara
- Emma
- Linnéa lin-NAY-ah
- Elin EH-lin
- Hanna
- Josefin YOO-seh-feen
- Johanna
- Matilda
Boys
- Johan
- Andreas
- Daniel
- Marcus
- Erik
- Alexander
- Fredrik
- Martin
Born 1995–2009
Girls
- Emma
- Maja MY-ah
- Ella
- Elsa
- Julia YOO-lee-ah
- Alice
- Wilma
- Ebba
Boys
- Oscar
- William
- Lucas
- Elias
- Hugo
- Alexander
- Filip
- Viktor
Born 2010 onward
Girls
- Alice
- Maja
- Elsa
- Astrid
- Wilma
- Freja FRAY-ah
- Olivia
- Selma
Boys
- William
- Liam
- Noah
- Hugo
- Lucas
- Oliver
- Elias
- Alexander
Common Swedish surnames
- Andersson
- Johansson YOO-han-son
- Karlsson
- Nilsson
- Eriksson
- Larsson
- Olsson
- Persson
- Svensson
- Gustafsson
- Pettersson
- Jonsson YON-son
- Jansson
- Hansson
- Bengtsson
- Lindberg
- Lindström
- Lindqvist LIND-kvist
- Berg BERY
- Bergström BERY-strum
- Lundberg
- Lundqvist
- Sandberg
- Forsberg FOSH-bery
Regional names
Where a character comes from inside Sweden changes their surname, and sometimes their first name.
Skåne (the far south)
Skåne has the thickest crop of -sson names, and a guttural, Danish-sounding r.
Surnames: Persson, Nilsson, Mårtensson, Månsson, Jeppsson, Ohlsson, Svensson, Håkansson, Jönsson, Paulsson
Norrland (the north)
Northern Sweden favours -lund, -ström, -gren and -in surnames. Sámi families in the far north have their own surnames, such as Labba and Kuhmunen.
Surnames: Lindgren, Holmgren, Nordin, Lundgren, Sundqvist, Forsberg, Wikström, Lidström, Burman, Öhman
Questions
What are common Swedish surnames?
Some of the most common Swedish surnames are Andersson, Johansson, Karlsson, Nilsson, Eriksson, Larsson. Regional surnames differ, so check the regional lists before choosing one for a character from a particular area.
How do Swedish names work?
The -son names began as patronymics (Andersson, son of Anders) and became fixed family names in the late 1800s. From 1901 many Swedes took new nature names (Lindberg, linden and mountain) to stand out from the Anderssons. Double first names like Lars-Göran and Ann-Christin peaked in the 1940s to 60s.
Build a Swedish character in one tap
InkBorn gives them a name from the right decade, a face card, a background, a personality and even their social media handles.