Björn
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Bjǫrn, from bjǫrn (“bear”), with identical meaning in modern Swedish. Runic name revived since 1816. Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bjørn.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Björn (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Björn has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. 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 | 67 |
| 1999 | 50 |
| 2000 | 48 |
| 2001 | 52 |
| 2002 | 24 |
| 2003 | 39 |
| 2004 | 40 |
| 2005 | 31 |
| 2006 | 28 |
| 2007 | 28 |
| 2008 | 35 |
| 2009 | 41 |
| 2010 | 40 |
| 2011 | 30 |
| 2012 | 48 |
| 2013 | 42 |
| 2014 | 56 |
| 2015 | 51 |
| 2016 | 58 |
| 2017 | 62 |
| 2018 | 49 |
| 2019 | 72 |
| 2020 | 139 |
| 2021 | 218 |
| 2022 | 211 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 40,308 |
| 2000 | 40,026 |
| 2001 | 39,717 |
| 2002 | 39,440 |
| 2003 | 39,152 |
| 2004 | 38,831 |
| 2005 | 38,524 |
| 2006 | 38,241 |
| 2007 | 37,999 |
| 2008 | 37,821 |
| 2009 | 37,616 |
| 2010 | 37,377 |
| 2011 | 37,159 |
| 2012 | 36,942 |
| 2013 | 36,694 |
| 2014 | 36,419 |
| 2015 | 36,164 |
| 2016 | 35,905 |
| 2017 | 35,649 |
| 2018 | 35,305 |
| 2019 | 34,981 |
| 2020 | 34,656 |
Björn in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Björn.Hi! My name is Björn.
- Björn ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Björn called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Björn har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Björn has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Björns mamma är lärare.Björn's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Björns mamma is Björn's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Björn
How do you pronounce Björn in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Björn from a native speaker's recording. J is said like the English y. Ö is like the vowel in 'bird', said with rounded lips.
What does the name Björn mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Bjǫrn, from bjǫrn (“bear”), with identical meaning in modern Swedish. Runic name revived since 1816. Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bjørn.
How popular is Björn in Sweden?
211 babies were named Björn in 2022. In 2020, 34,656 people in Sweden had Björn as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2021 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.