Elsa
Meaning and origin
Rare medieval contraction of Elisabet, also a variant Danish Else. First recorded in Sweden in 1422. Taken to general use in the 19th century through the influence of the identical German name.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Elsa (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Elsa has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2015. 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 | 224 |
| 1999 | 210 |
| 2000 | 259 |
| 2001 | 308 |
| 2002 | 427 |
| 2003 | 473 |
| 2004 | 619 |
| 2005 | 602 |
| 2006 | 624 |
| 2007 | 722 |
| 2008 | 772 |
| 2009 | 768 |
| 2010 | 719 |
| 2011 | 716 |
| 2012 | 750 |
| 2013 | 762 |
| 2014 | 841 |
| 2015 | 864 |
| 2016 | 634 |
| 2017 | 529 |
| 2018 | 549 |
| 2019 | 553 |
| 2020 | 635 |
| 2021 | 650 |
| 2022 | 526 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 28,883 |
| 2000 | 27,591 |
| 2001 | 26,372 |
| 2002 | 25,259 |
| 2003 | 24,371 |
| 2004 | 23,651 |
| 2005 | 22,953 |
| 2006 | 22,356 |
| 2007 | 21,947 |
| 2008 | 21,684 |
| 2009 | 21,524 |
| 2010 | 21,247 |
| 2011 | 21,054 |
| 2012 | 20,982 |
| 2013 | 20,924 |
| 2014 | 21,023 |
| 2015 | 21,170 |
| 2016 | 21,151 |
| 2017 | 21,083 |
| 2018 | 21,015 |
| 2019 | 21,074 |
| 2020 | 21,142 |
Elsa in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Elsa.Hi! My name is Elsa.
- Har du träffat Elsa? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Elsa? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Elsa i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Elsa this afternoon.
- Elsas mamma är lärare.Elsa's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Elsas mamma is Elsa's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Elsa
How do you pronounce Elsa in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Elsa from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Elsa mean?
Rare medieval contraction of Elisabet, also a variant Danish Else. First recorded in Sweden in 1422. Taken to general use in the 19th century through the influence of the identical German name.
How popular is Elsa in Sweden?
526 babies were named Elsa in 2022. In 2020, 21,142 people in Sweden had Elsa as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2015 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.