Gustav
Meaning and origin
From Old Swedish Gøtstaf, from Old Norse Gautr (“Geats”) + stafr (“staff”) The oldest record in Sweden dates back to the year 1225 ("Gostauus"). In Peder Swart's chronicle about Gustav Vasa dated in the mid-1500s, the name is spelled Götstaff and is assumed to mean "Staff of the Geats."
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Gustav (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Gustav has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2003. 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 | 547 |
| 1999 | 561 |
| 2000 | 587 |
| 2001 | 599 |
| 2002 | 664 |
| 2003 | 704 |
| 2004 | 676 |
| 2005 | 614 |
| 2006 | 579 |
| 2007 | 631 |
| 2008 | 579 |
| 2009 | 527 |
| 2010 | 532 |
| 2011 | 449 |
| 2012 | 462 |
| 2013 | 455 |
| 2014 | 417 |
| 2015 | 353 |
| 2016 | 359 |
| 2017 | 320 |
| 2018 | 305 |
| 2019 | 253 |
| 2020 | 192 |
| 2021 | 187 |
| 2022 | 190 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 15,484 |
| 2000 | 15,681 |
| 2001 | 15,912 |
| 2002 | 16,174 |
| 2003 | 16,571 |
| 2004 | 16,969 |
| 2005 | 17,288 |
| 2006 | 17,603 |
| 2007 | 17,964 |
| 2008 | 18,351 |
| 2009 | 18,669 |
| 2010 | 18,983 |
| 2011 | 19,236 |
| 2012 | 19,534 |
| 2013 | 19,818 |
| 2014 | 20,101 |
| 2015 | 20,295 |
| 2016 | 20,503 |
| 2017 | 20,674 |
| 2018 | 20,862 |
| 2019 | 20,976 |
| 2020 | 21,044 |
Gustav in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Gustav.Hi! My name is Gustav.
- Gustav bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Gustav lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Gustav i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Gustav this afternoon.
- Gustavs mamma är lärare.Gustav's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Gustavs mamma is Gustav's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Gustav
How do you pronounce Gustav in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Gustav from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Gustav mean?
From Old Swedish Gøtstaf, from Old Norse Gautr (“Geats”) + stafr (“staff”) The oldest record in Sweden dates back to the year 1225 ("Gostauus"). In Peder Swart's chronicle about Gustav Vasa dated in the mid-1500s, the name is spelled Götstaff and is assumed to mean "Staff of the Geats."
How popular is Gustav in Sweden?
190 babies were named Gustav in 2022. In 2020, 21,044 people in Sweden had Gustav as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2003 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.