Elizabeth
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Hebrew, popular since the 16th century. From Middle English Elizabeth, from the Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), a transliteration of the Old Testament Biblical Hebrew אלישבע (ʔĕlîšeḇaʕ, “my God is an oath”). See El and שבועה. Doublet of Elisheba and Isabel.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Elizabeth (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, Elizabeth has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2011. 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 | 4 |
| 2006 | 6 |
| 2007 | 6 |
| 2008 | 8 |
| 2009 | 12 |
| 2010 | 7 |
| 2011 | 20 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 11 |
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2015 | 11 |
| 2016 | 14 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 14 |
| 2020 | 11 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2022 | 6 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,143 |
| 2000 | 1,167 |
| 2001 | 1,198 |
| 2002 | 1,235 |
| 2003 | 1,268 |
| 2004 | 1,297 |
| 2005 | 1,321 |
| 2006 | 1,340 |
| 2007 | 1,379 |
| 2008 | 1,435 |
| 2009 | 1,488 |
| 2010 | 1,523 |
| 2011 | 1,575 |
| 2012 | 1,594 |
| 2013 | 1,614 |
| 2014 | 1,643 |
| 2015 | 1,679 |
| 2016 | 1,720 |
| 2017 | 1,772 |
| 2018 | 1,814 |
| 2019 | 1,862 |
| 2020 | 1,902 |
Elizabeth in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Elizabeth.Hi! My name is Elizabeth.
- Elizabeth bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Elizabeth lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Elizabeth har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Elizabeth has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Elizabeths mamma är lärare.Elizabeth's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Elizabeths mamma is Elizabeth's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Elizabeth
How do you pronounce Elizabeth in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Elizabeth in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Elizabeth mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Hebrew, popular since the 16th century. From Middle English Elizabeth, from the Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), a transliteration of the Old Testament Biblical Hebrew אלישבע (ʔĕlîšeḇaʕ, “my God is an oath”). See El and שבועה. Doublet of Elisheba and Isabel.
How popular is Elizabeth in Sweden?
6 babies were named Elizabeth in 2022. In 2020, 1,902 people in Sweden had Elizabeth as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2011 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.