Anna
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Ann. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1291. Inherited from Old Swedish Anna, from Vulgar Latin Anna, from Ancient Greek Ἄννα (Ánna), equal to the Hebrew female name חַנָּה (ḥannâ) of Old Testament, meaning "grace, gracious". Cognate with English Ann.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Anna (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Anna has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 536 |
| 1999 | 504 |
| 2000 | 471 |
| 2001 | 435 |
| 2002 | 437 |
| 2003 | 432 |
| 2004 | 351 |
| 2005 | 294 |
| 2006 | 293 |
| 2007 | 246 |
| 2008 | 177 |
| 2009 | 168 |
| 2010 | 162 |
| 2011 | 152 |
| 2012 | 136 |
| 2013 | 127 |
| 2014 | 121 |
| 2015 | 125 |
| 2016 | 109 |
| 2017 | 104 |
| 2018 | 86 |
| 2019 | 85 |
| 2020 | 102 |
| 2021 | 113 |
| 2022 | 66 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 144,558 |
| 2000 | 140,167 |
| 2001 | 135,937 |
| 2002 | 132,068 |
| 2003 | 128,275 |
| 2004 | 124,681 |
| 2005 | 121,549 |
| 2006 | 118,668 |
| 2007 | 116,521 |
| 2008 | 114,745 |
| 2009 | 112,927 |
| 2010 | 110,951 |
| 2011 | 109,247 |
| 2012 | 107,679 |
| 2013 | 106,076 |
| 2014 | 104,731 |
| 2015 | 103,432 |
| 2016 | 102,300 |
| 2017 | 101,047 |
| 2018 | 99,874 |
| 2019 | 98,656 |
| 2020 | 97,287 |
Anna in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Anna.Hi! My name is Anna.
- Anna bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Anna lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Anna har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Anna has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Annas mamma är lärare.Anna's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Annas mamma is Anna's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Anna
How do you pronounce Anna in Swedish?
In IPA, Anna is /²ana/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Anna mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Ann. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1291. Inherited from Old Swedish Anna, from Vulgar Latin Anna, from Ancient Greek Ἄννα (Ánna), equal to the Hebrew female name חַנָּה (ḥannâ) of Old Testament, meaning "grace, gracious". Cognate with English Ann.
How popular is Anna in Sweden?
66 babies were named Anna in 2022. In 2020, 97,287 people in Sweden had Anna as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.