Claes
Meaning and origin
Variant of Claus, German short form of Nikolaus (“Nicholas”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Claes (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Claes has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. 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 | 16 |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 6 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | 5 |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | 3 |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 3 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 11,538 |
| 2000 | 11,355 |
| 2001 | 11,199 |
| 2002 | 11,060 |
| 2003 | 10,924 |
| 2004 | 10,770 |
| 2005 | 10,630 |
| 2006 | 10,476 |
| 2007 | 10,405 |
| 2008 | 10,333 |
| 2009 | 10,281 |
| 2010 | 10,226 |
| 2011 | 10,150 |
| 2012 | 10,081 |
| 2013 | 10,002 |
| 2014 | 9,938 |
| 2015 | 9,868 |
| 2016 | 9,773 |
| 2017 | 9,662 |
| 2018 | 9,585 |
| 2019 | 9,468 |
| 2020 | 9,350 |
Claes in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Claes.Hi! My name is Claes.
- Claes ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Claes called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Vet du om Claes kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Claes is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Claes mamma är lärare.Claes's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Claes mamma is Claes's mum. Because Claes already ends in s, nothing is added.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Claes
How do you pronounce Claes in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Claes in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Claes mean?
Variant of Claus, German short form of Nikolaus (“Nicholas”).
How popular is Claes in Sweden?
3 babies were named Claes in 2022. In 2020, 9,350 people in Sweden had Claes as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 1998 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.