Axel
Meaning and origin
From Danish Aksel, Axel. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1371.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Axel (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Axel has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2004. 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 | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 495 |
| 1999 | 562 |
| 2000 | 538 |
| 2001 | 581 |
| 2002 | 610 |
| 2003 | 685 |
| 2004 | 754 |
| 2005 | 745 |
| 2006 | 741 |
| 2007 | 691 |
| 2008 | 676 |
| 2009 | 705 |
| 2010 | 675 |
| 2011 | 670 |
| 2012 | 624 |
| 2013 | 658 |
| 2014 | 572 |
| 2015 | 609 |
| 2016 | 534 |
| 2017 | 507 |
| 2018 | 522 |
| 2019 | 436 |
| 2020 | 400 |
| 2021 | 354 |
| 2022 | 326 |
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 | – | 13,249 |
| 2000 | – | 13,241 |
| 2001 | – | 13,336 |
| 2002 | – | 13,448 |
| 2003 | – | 13,658 |
| 2004 | – | 13,950 |
| 2005 | – | 14,307 |
| 2006 | – | 14,678 |
| 2007 | – | 15,035 |
| 2008 | – | 15,451 |
| 2009 | – | 15,879 |
| 2010 | – | 16,288 |
| 2011 | – | 16,679 |
| 2012 | – | 17,087 |
| 2013 | – | 17,559 |
| 2014 | – | 17,978 |
| 2015 | – | 18,381 |
| 2016 | – | 18,769 |
| 2017 | – | 19,141 |
| 2018 | – | 19,542 |
| 2019 | 13 | 19,850 |
| 2020 | 13 | 20,121 |
Axel in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Axel.Hi! My name is Axel.
- Axel ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Axel called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Axel har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Axel has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Axels mamma är lärare.Axel's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Axels mamma is Axel's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Axel
How do you pronounce Axel in Swedish?
In IPA, Axel is /¹aksɛl/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Axel mean?
From Danish Aksel, Axel. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1371.
How popular is Axel in Sweden?
326 babies were named Axel in 2022. In 2020, 20,134 people in Sweden had Axel as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2004 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.