Elham
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a unisex given name from Persian or Arabic. Borrowed from Persian الهام (elhâm), itself borrowed from Arabic إِلْهَام (ʔilhām, “inspiration”). Related to Ilham.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Elham (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, Elham 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 | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – |
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | 3 | – |
| 2005 | – | – |
| 2006 | – | – |
| 2007 | – | – |
| 2008 | – | – |
| 2009 | – | 4 |
| 2010 | 2 | – |
| 2011 | 2 | – |
| 2012 | – | – |
| 2013 | – | – |
| 2014 | 2 | 3 |
| 2015 | 3 | – |
| 2016 | – | – |
| 2017 | 2 | – |
| 2018 | 2 | 4 |
| 2019 | 2 | – |
| 2020 | – | – |
| 2021 | 2 | – |
| 2022 | 2 | – |
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 | 209 | – |
| 2000 | 225 | – |
| 2001 | 238 | – |
| 2002 | 246 | 12 |
| 2003 | 249 | 12 |
| 2004 | 257 | 13 |
| 2005 | 261 | 13 |
| 2006 | 276 | 14 |
| 2007 | 284 | 14 |
| 2008 | 298 | 15 |
| 2009 | 324 | 21 |
| 2010 | 342 | 21 |
| 2011 | 356 | 23 |
| 2012 | 371 | 22 |
| 2013 | 396 | 26 |
| 2014 | 422 | 31 |
| 2015 | 452 | 37 |
| 2016 | 499 | 39 |
| 2017 | 540 | 46 |
| 2018 | 578 | 51 |
| 2019 | 616 | 53 |
| 2020 | 628 | 58 |
Elham in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Elham.Hi! My name is Elham.
- Har du träffat Elham? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Elham? She started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Elham kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Elham is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Elhams mamma är lärare.Elham's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Elhams mamma is Elham's mum.
More names
Questions about Elham
How do you pronounce Elham in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Elham in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Elham mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a unisex given name from Persian or Arabic. Borrowed from Persian الهام (elhâm), itself borrowed from Arabic إِلْهَام (ʔilhām, “inspiration”). Related to Ilham.
How popular is Elham in Sweden?
2 babies were named Elham in 2022. In 2020, 686 people in Sweden had Elham 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.