Anwar
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Arabic. Borrowed from Arabic أَنْوَر (ʔanwar, “most luminous”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Anwar (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Anwar has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2017. 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 | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – |
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | – | 2 |
| 2005 | – | 5 |
| 2006 | – | – |
| 2007 | – | 3 |
| 2008 | – | 2 |
| 2009 | – | 3 |
| 2010 | – | 5 |
| 2011 | – | 6 |
| 2012 | – | 3 |
| 2013 | – | 7 |
| 2014 | – | 7 |
| 2015 | – | 11 |
| 2016 | – | 4 |
| 2017 | 2 | 12 |
| 2018 | – | 9 |
| 2019 | – | 8 |
| 2020 | – | 7 |
| 2021 | – | 8 |
| 2022 | – | 5 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 25 | 150 |
| 2000 | 28 | 157 |
| 2001 | 30 | 171 |
| 2002 | 35 | 177 |
| 2003 | 39 | 188 |
| 2004 | 42 | 200 |
| 2005 | 38 | 215 |
| 2006 | 47 | 240 |
| 2007 | 61 | 260 |
| 2008 | 76 | 283 |
| 2009 | 89 | 297 |
| 2010 | 87 | 309 |
| 2011 | 94 | 324 |
| 2012 | 99 | 347 |
| 2013 | 106 | 389 |
| 2014 | 116 | 419 |
| 2015 | 121 | 460 |
| 2016 | 136 | 522 |
| 2017 | 155 | 560 |
| 2018 | 164 | 584 |
| 2019 | 165 | 617 |
| 2020 | 169 | 626 |
Anwar in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Anwar.Hi! My name is Anwar.
- Vet du om Anwar kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Anwar is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Anwar har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Anwar has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Anwars mamma är lärare.Anwar's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Anwars mamma is Anwar's mum.
More names
Questions about Anwar
How do you pronounce Anwar in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Anwar in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Anwar mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Arabic. Borrowed from Arabic أَنْوَر (ʔanwar, “most luminous”).
How popular is Anwar in Sweden?
5 babies were named Anwar in 2022. In 2020, 795 people in Sweden had Anwar as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2017 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.