Calle
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the male given name Carl.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Calle (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Calle has been fairly steady 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 | 27 |
| 1999 | 29 |
| 2000 | 41 |
| 2001 | 41 |
| 2002 | 40 |
| 2003 | 33 |
| 2004 | 51 |
| 2005 | 46 |
| 2006 | 49 |
| 2007 | 26 |
| 2008 | 31 |
| 2009 | 25 |
| 2010 | 44 |
| 2011 | 21 |
| 2012 | 22 |
| 2013 | 15 |
| 2014 | 15 |
| 2015 | 12 |
| 2016 | 14 |
| 2017 | 14 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 23 |
| 2020 | 16 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 7 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 538 |
| 2000 | 585 |
| 2001 | 638 |
| 2002 | 681 |
| 2003 | 721 |
| 2004 | 774 |
| 2005 | 818 |
| 2006 | 877 |
| 2007 | 907 |
| 2008 | 950 |
| 2009 | 978 |
| 2010 | 1,026 |
| 2011 | 1,046 |
| 2012 | 1,078 |
| 2013 | 1,105 |
| 2014 | 1,119 |
| 2015 | 1,136 |
| 2016 | 1,152 |
| 2017 | 1,172 |
| 2018 | 1,183 |
| 2019 | 1,220 |
| 2020 | 1,234 |
Calle in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Calle.Hi! My name is Calle.
- Calle har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Calle has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Calle i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Calle this afternoon.
- Calles mamma är lärare.Calle's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Calles mamma is Calle's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Calle
How do you pronounce Calle in Swedish?
In IPA, Calle is /²kalɛ/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Calle mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the male given name Carl.
How popular is Calle in Sweden?
7 babies were named Calle in 2022. In 2020, 1,234 people in Sweden had Calle as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady 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.