Bilal
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Arabic. From Arabic بِلَال (bilāl), specially Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Bilal (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, Bilal has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2015. 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 | 14 |
| 1999 | 13 |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 2002 | 19 |
| 2003 | 10 |
| 2004 | 12 |
| 2005 | 23 |
| 2006 | 12 |
| 2007 | 17 |
| 2008 | 18 |
| 2009 | 19 |
| 2010 | 20 |
| 2011 | 18 |
| 2012 | 29 |
| 2013 | 37 |
| 2014 | 26 |
| 2015 | 42 |
| 2016 | 29 |
| 2017 | 34 |
| 2018 | 32 |
| 2019 | 27 |
| 2020 | 39 |
| 2021 | 21 |
| 2022 | 39 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 281 |
| 2000 | 299 |
| 2001 | 320 |
| 2002 | 349 |
| 2003 | 366 |
| 2004 | 390 |
| 2005 | 416 |
| 2006 | 449 |
| 2007 | 498 |
| 2008 | 549 |
| 2009 | 597 |
| 2010 | 643 |
| 2011 | 671 |
| 2012 | 729 |
| 2013 | 796 |
| 2014 | 879 |
| 2015 | 977 |
| 2016 | 1,096 |
| 2017 | 1,180 |
| 2018 | 1,250 |
| 2019 | 1,334 |
| 2020 | 1,395 |
Bilal in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Bilal.Hi! My name is Bilal.
- Bilal bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Bilal lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Bilal har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Bilal has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Bilals mamma är lärare.Bilal's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Bilals mamma is Bilal's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Bilal
How do you pronounce Bilal in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Bilal in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Bilal mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Arabic. From Arabic بِلَال (bilāl), specially Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ.
How popular is Bilal in Sweden?
39 babies were named Bilal in 2022. In 2020, 1,395 people in Sweden had Bilal as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2015 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.