Dan
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Danr (“a Dane”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Dan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Dan has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2000. 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 | – | 16 |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | – | 8 |
| 2005 | 2 | 7 |
| 2006 | – | 4 |
| 2007 | – | 4 |
| 2008 | – | 4 |
| 2009 | – | 9 |
| 2010 | – | 7 |
| 2011 | – | 5 |
| 2012 | – | 4 |
| 2013 | – | 4 |
| 2014 | – | 6 |
| 2015 | – | 3 |
| 2016 | – | 7 |
| 2017 | – | 5 |
| 2018 | – | 11 |
| 2019 | – | 6 |
| 2020 | – | 3 |
| 2021 | – | 8 |
| 2022 | – | 6 |
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 | – | 13,448 |
| 2000 | 10 | 13,326 |
| 2001 | 11 | 13,189 |
| 2002 | 12 | 13,043 |
| 2003 | 15 | 12,919 |
| 2004 | 15 | 12,790 |
| 2005 | 18 | 12,689 |
| 2006 | 21 | 12,586 |
| 2007 | 28 | 12,534 |
| 2008 | 36 | 12,468 |
| 2009 | 46 | 12,410 |
| 2010 | 52 | 12,366 |
| 2011 | 56 | 12,286 |
| 2012 | 56 | 12,216 |
| 2013 | 57 | 12,135 |
| 2014 | 55 | 12,065 |
| 2015 | 52 | 11,982 |
| 2016 | 53 | 11,896 |
| 2017 | 58 | 11,806 |
| 2018 | 69 | 11,730 |
| 2019 | 74 | 11,629 |
| 2020 | 72 | 11,505 |
Dan in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Dan.Hi! My name is Dan.
- Har du träffat Dan? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Dan? He started working here on Monday.
- Dan har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Dan has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Dans mamma är lärare.Dan's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Dans mamma is Dan's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Dan
How do you pronounce Dan in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Dan from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Dan mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Danr (“a Dane”).
How popular is Dan in Sweden?
6 babies were named Dan in 2022. In 2020, 11,577 people in Sweden had Dan as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2000 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.