Bo
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Búi (“dweller, long-time resident”), originally a medieval byname.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Bo (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Bo has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2022. 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 | – | 6 |
| 2005 | – | 4 |
| 2006 | – | 10 |
| 2007 | – | 14 |
| 2008 | – | 15 |
| 2009 | – | 14 |
| 2010 | – | 29 |
| 2011 | – | 28 |
| 2012 | – | 42 |
| 2013 | – | 52 |
| 2014 | 2 | 67 |
| 2015 | 2 | 61 |
| 2016 | – | 67 |
| 2017 | – | 89 |
| 2018 | – | 78 |
| 2019 | 4 | 83 |
| 2020 | – | 88 |
| 2021 | 2 | 78 |
| 2022 | – | 106 |
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 | 12 | 53,128 |
| 2000 | 12 | 52,260 |
| 2001 | 11 | 51,456 |
| 2002 | 14 | 50,631 |
| 2003 | 15 | 49,825 |
| 2004 | 12 | 48,944 |
| 2005 | 14 | 48,158 |
| 2006 | 17 | 47,377 |
| 2007 | 23 | 46,825 |
| 2008 | 22 | 46,270 |
| 2009 | 27 | 45,691 |
| 2010 | 33 | 45,124 |
| 2011 | 39 | 44,490 |
| 2012 | 40 | 43,869 |
| 2013 | 40 | 43,162 |
| 2014 | 39 | 42,509 |
| 2015 | 42 | 41,766 |
| 2016 | 47 | 40,989 |
| 2017 | 52 | 40,249 |
| 2018 | 53 | 39,405 |
| 2019 | 57 | 38,554 |
| 2020 | 56 | 37,535 |
Bo in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Bo.Hi! My name is Bo.
- Har du träffat Bo? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Bo? He started working here on Monday.
- Bo har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Bo has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Bos mamma är lärare.Bo's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Bos mamma is Bo's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Bo
How do you pronounce Bo in Swedish?
In IPA, Bo is /buː/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Bo mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Búi (“dweller, long-time resident”), originally a medieval byname.
How popular is Bo in Sweden?
106 babies were named Bo in 2022. In 2020, 37,591 people in Sweden had Bo as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2022 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.