Carmen
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Spanish. From Spanish Carmen, cognate with English Carmel. Made famous outside Spain by the opera Carmen (1875) by Georges Bizet.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Carmen (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, Carmen has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2010. 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 |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 10 |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 7 |
| 2005 | 10 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2007 | 11 |
| 2008 | 7 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 13 |
| 2011 | 10 |
| 2012 | 7 |
| 2013 | 6 |
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2015 | 5 |
| 2016 | 13 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | 11 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 5 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 682 |
| 2000 | 683 |
| 2001 | 692 |
| 2002 | 720 |
| 2003 | 730 |
| 2004 | 746 |
| 2005 | 768 |
| 2006 | 787 |
| 2007 | 813 |
| 2008 | 840 |
| 2009 | 862 |
| 2010 | 892 |
| 2011 | 907 |
| 2012 | 918 |
| 2013 | 940 |
| 2014 | 974 |
| 2015 | 976 |
| 2016 | 1,007 |
| 2017 | 1,026 |
| 2018 | 1,031 |
| 2019 | 1,043 |
| 2020 | 1,059 |
Carmen in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Carmen.Hi! My name is Carmen.
- Carmen ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Carmen called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Vet du om Carmen kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Carmen is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Carmens mamma är lärare.Carmen's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Carmens mamma is Carmen's mum.
More names
Questions about Carmen
How do you pronounce Carmen in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Carmen in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Carmen mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Spanish. From Spanish Carmen, cognate with English Carmel. Made famous outside Spain by the opera Carmen (1875) by Georges Bizet.
How popular is Carmen in Sweden?
5 babies were named Carmen in 2022. In 2020, 1,059 people in Sweden had Carmen as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2010 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.