Harald
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, equivalent to English Harold. From Old Norse Haraldr, from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Harald (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Harald has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. 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 | 20 |
| 1999 | 38 |
| 2000 | 25 |
| 2001 | 37 |
| 2002 | 27 |
| 2003 | 34 |
| 2004 | 37 |
| 2005 | 35 |
| 2006 | 31 |
| 2007 | 44 |
| 2008 | 39 |
| 2009 | 32 |
| 2010 | 51 |
| 2011 | 30 |
| 2012 | 34 |
| 2013 | 41 |
| 2014 | 37 |
| 2015 | 57 |
| 2016 | 53 |
| 2017 | 58 |
| 2018 | 45 |
| 2019 | 59 |
| 2020 | 54 |
| 2021 | 49 |
| 2022 | 59 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 3,417 |
| 2000 | 3,347 |
| 2001 | 3,291 |
| 2002 | 3,244 |
| 2003 | 3,206 |
| 2004 | 3,142 |
| 2005 | 3,041 |
| 2006 | 2,974 |
| 2007 | 2,931 |
| 2008 | 2,916 |
| 2009 | 2,857 |
| 2010 | 2,835 |
| 2011 | 2,773 |
| 2012 | 2,750 |
| 2013 | 2,708 |
| 2014 | 2,673 |
| 2015 | 2,683 |
| 2016 | 2,680 |
| 2017 | 2,682 |
| 2018 | 2,669 |
| 2019 | 2,655 |
| 2020 | 2,647 |
Harald in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Harald.Hi! My name is Harald.
- Harald bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Harald lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Harald i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Harald this afternoon.
- Haralds mamma är lärare.Harald's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Haralds mamma is Harald's mum.
More names
Questions about Harald
How do you pronounce Harald in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Harald from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Harald mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, equivalent to English Harold. From Old Norse Haraldr, from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz.
How popular is Harald in Sweden?
59 babies were named Harald in 2022. In 2020, 2,647 people in Sweden had Harald as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2019 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.