Elin
Meaning and origin
Medieval vernacular form of Helena (originally pronounced without the h in Swedish). First recorded in Sweden in the 14th century. Comparable to English Ellen.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Elin (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Elin has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1999. 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 | 1,037 |
| 1999 | 1,076 |
| 2000 | 999 |
| 2001 | 944 |
| 2002 | 1,044 |
| 2003 | 1,051 |
| 2004 | 980 |
| 2005 | 869 |
| 2006 | 758 |
| 2007 | 741 |
| 2008 | 623 |
| 2009 | 566 |
| 2010 | 563 |
| 2011 | 498 |
| 2012 | 374 |
| 2013 | 351 |
| 2014 | 313 |
| 2015 | 306 |
| 2016 | 273 |
| 2017 | 244 |
| 2018 | 241 |
| 2019 | 193 |
| 2020 | 187 |
| 2021 | 144 |
| 2022 | 139 |
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 | 31,650 | 10 |
| 2000 | 32,080 | – |
| 2001 | 32,492 | – |
| 2002 | 33,012 | – |
| 2003 | 33,580 | – |
| 2004 | 34,063 | – |
| 2005 | 34,477 | – |
| 2006 | 34,885 | 10 |
| 2007 | 35,302 | – |
| 2008 | 35,648 | – |
| 2009 | 35,942 | – |
| 2010 | 36,272 | 10 |
| 2011 | 36,484 | 10 |
| 2012 | 36,590 | 12 |
| 2013 | 36,703 | 11 |
| 2014 | 36,792 | – |
| 2015 | 36,915 | – |
| 2016 | 36,999 | – |
| 2017 | 37,076 | 11 |
| 2018 | 37,153 | – |
| 2019 | 37,154 | – |
| 2020 | 37,161 | 10 |
Elin in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Elin.Hi! My name is Elin.
- Elin bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Elin lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Elin har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Elin has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Elins mamma är lärare.Elin's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Elins mamma is Elin's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Elin
How do you pronounce Elin in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Elin from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Elin mean?
Medieval vernacular form of Helena (originally pronounced without the h in Swedish). First recorded in Sweden in the 14th century. Comparable to English Ellen.
How popular is Elin in Sweden?
139 babies were named Elin in 2022. In 2020, 37,171 people in Sweden had Elin as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1999 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.