Fabian
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Latin. From Latin Fabiānus (“belonging to Fabius”), derived from Fabius + -ānus.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Fabian (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, Fabian has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2002. 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 | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 142 |
| 1999 | 176 |
| 2000 | 189 |
| 2001 | 186 |
| 2002 | 227 |
| 2003 | 188 |
| 2004 | 206 |
| 2005 | 198 |
| 2006 | 169 |
| 2007 | 165 |
| 2008 | 189 |
| 2009 | 142 |
| 2010 | 136 |
| 2011 | 159 |
| 2012 | 101 |
| 2013 | 98 |
| 2014 | 74 |
| 2015 | 72 |
| 2016 | 62 |
| 2017 | 68 |
| 2018 | 63 |
| 2019 | 66 |
| 2020 | 49 |
| 2021 | 51 |
| 2022 | 52 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,639 |
| 2000 | 1,834 |
| 2001 | 2,028 |
| 2002 | 2,251 |
| 2003 | 2,457 |
| 2004 | 2,674 |
| 2005 | 2,871 |
| 2006 | 3,042 |
| 2007 | 3,209 |
| 2008 | 3,428 |
| 2009 | 3,581 |
| 2010 | 3,738 |
| 2011 | 3,889 |
| 2012 | 3,993 |
| 2013 | 4,097 |
| 2014 | 4,183 |
| 2015 | 4,271 |
| 2016 | 4,330 |
| 2017 | 4,419 |
| 2018 | 4,491 |
| 2019 | 4,557 |
| 2020 | 4,623 |
Fabian in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Fabian.Hi! My name is Fabian.
- Fabian har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Fabian has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Fabian i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Fabian this afternoon.
- Fabians mamma är lärare.Fabian's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Fabians mamma is Fabian's mum.
More names
Questions about Fabian
How do you pronounce Fabian in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Fabian from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Fabian mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Latin. From Latin Fabiānus (“belonging to Fabius”), derived from Fabius + -ānus.
How popular is Fabian in Sweden?
52 babies were named Fabian in 2022. In 2020, 4,623 people in Sweden had Fabian as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2002 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.