Fiona
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Scottish Gaelic, in regular use since the 20th century, first in Scotland, then in England. From Irish fionn (“fair, white”). In use before 1713. Popularized by James Macpherson (see 1765 quotation), and perhaps by the 19th-century Scottish writer William Sharp, who chose “Fiona Macleod” as his pen name. * (Sara Duterte): After the fictional character Princess Fiona from the Shrek series, who transforms from princess to ogre.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Fiona (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, Fiona has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2018. 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 | – |
| 2003 | 10 |
| 2004 | 12 |
| 2005 | 21 |
| 2006 | 14 |
| 2007 | 14 |
| 2008 | 21 |
| 2009 | 13 |
| 2010 | 16 |
| 2011 | 17 |
| 2012 | 19 |
| 2013 | 27 |
| 2014 | 27 |
| 2015 | 29 |
| 2016 | 35 |
| 2017 | 30 |
| 2018 | 38 |
| 2019 | 25 |
| 2020 | 21 |
| 2021 | 34 |
| 2022 | 25 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 109 |
| 2000 | 124 |
| 2001 | 138 |
| 2002 | 149 |
| 2003 | 158 |
| 2004 | 183 |
| 2005 | 204 |
| 2006 | 228 |
| 2007 | 252 |
| 2008 | 289 |
| 2009 | 306 |
| 2010 | 320 |
| 2011 | 343 |
| 2012 | 356 |
| 2013 | 386 |
| 2014 | 422 |
| 2015 | 457 |
| 2016 | 501 |
| 2017 | 545 |
| 2018 | 593 |
| 2019 | 618 |
| 2020 | 639 |
Fiona in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Fiona.Hi! My name is Fiona.
- Fiona har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Fiona has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Fiona i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Fiona this afternoon.
- Fionas mamma är lärare.Fiona's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Fionas mamma is Fiona's mum.
More names
Questions about Fiona
How do you pronounce Fiona in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Fiona in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Fiona mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Scottish Gaelic, in regular use since the 20th century, first in Scotland, then in England. From Irish fionn (“fair, white”). In use before 1713. Popularized by James Macpherson (see 1765 quotation), and perhaps by the 19th-century Scottish writer William Sharp, who chose “Fiona Macleod” as his pen name. * (Sara Duterte): After the fictional character Princess Fiona from the Shrek series, who transforms from princess to ogre.
How popular is Fiona in Sweden?
25 babies were named Fiona in 2022. In 2020, 639 people in Sweden had Fiona as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2018 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.