Hans
Meaning and origin
From German Hans, a medieval short form of Johannes (“John”). First recorded in Sweden in 1356.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Hans (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Hans has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. 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 | 15 |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 14 |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | 11 |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2007 | 9 |
| 2008 | 7 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 9 |
| 2011 | 5 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 3 |
| 2014 | 7 |
| 2015 | 11 |
| 2016 | 9 |
| 2017 | 6 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 6 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 16 | 69,233 |
| 2000 | 16 | 67,664 |
| 2001 | 16 | 66,265 |
| 2002 | 16 | 64,857 |
| 2003 | 15 | 63,475 |
| 2004 | 14 | 61,996 |
| 2005 | 14 | 60,648 |
| 2006 | 14 | 59,440 |
| 2007 | 14 | 58,419 |
| 2008 | 14 | 57,572 |
| 2009 | 13 | 56,746 |
| 2010 | 13 | 55,746 |
| 2011 | 12 | 54,854 |
| 2012 | 12 | 53,912 |
| 2013 | 11 | 52,950 |
| 2014 | 10 | 51,995 |
| 2015 | 10 | 50,995 |
| 2016 | – | 49,916 |
| 2017 | – | 48,839 |
| 2018 | – | 47,764 |
| 2019 | – | 46,625 |
| 2020 | – | 45,262 |
Hans in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Hans.Hi! My name is Hans.
- Hans ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Hans called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Hans har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Hans has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Hans mamma är lärare.Hans's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Hans mamma is Hans's mum. Because Hans already ends in s, nothing is added.
More names
Questions about Hans
How do you pronounce Hans in Swedish?
In IPA, Hans is /hɑːns/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Hans mean?
From German Hans, a medieval short form of Johannes (“John”). First recorded in Sweden in 1356.
How popular is Hans in Sweden?
6 babies were named Hans in 2022. In 2020, 45,262 people in Sweden had Hans as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1998 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.