Birger
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse famous in the history of Sweden, e.g. Birger Jarl, a 13th century statesman. From Old Norse Birgir (“helper”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Birger (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Birger has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2020. 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 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 7 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2008 | 8 |
| 2009 | 5 |
| 2010 | 8 |
| 2011 | 5 |
| 2012 | 11 |
| 2013 | 11 |
| 2014 | 18 |
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2016 | 8 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 12 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 23 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 21 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 4,635 |
| 2000 | 4,520 |
| 2001 | 4,396 |
| 2002 | 4,281 |
| 2003 | 4,159 |
| 2004 | 4,052 |
| 2005 | 3,935 |
| 2006 | 3,801 |
| 2007 | 3,664 |
| 2008 | 3,542 |
| 2009 | 3,370 |
| 2010 | 3,253 |
| 2011 | 3,127 |
| 2012 | 2,979 |
| 2013 | 2,875 |
| 2014 | 2,774 |
| 2015 | 2,642 |
| 2016 | 2,535 |
| 2017 | 2,432 |
| 2018 | 2,344 |
| 2019 | 2,257 |
| 2020 | 2,168 |
Birger in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Birger.Hi! My name is Birger.
- Har du träffat Birger? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Birger? He started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Birger kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Birger is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Birgers mamma är lärare.Birger's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Birgers mamma is Birger's mum.
More names
Questions about Birger
How do you pronounce Birger in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Birger from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Birger mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse famous in the history of Sweden, e.g. Birger Jarl, a 13th century statesman. From Old Norse Birgir (“helper”).
How popular is Birger in Sweden?
21 babies were named Birger in 2022. In 2020, 2,168 people in Sweden had Birger as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2020 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.