Helga
Meaning and origin
From Old Swedish Hiælgha, Hælgha, from Old Norse Helga.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Helga (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Helga has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. 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 | – |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 6 |
| 2007 | 6 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 11 |
| 2010 | 5 |
| 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 5 |
| 2014 | 14 |
| 2015 | 16 |
| 2016 | 9 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2019 | 20 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 25 |
| 2022 | 17 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 4,602 |
| 2000 | 4,313 |
| 2001 | 4,020 |
| 2002 | 3,747 |
| 2003 | 3,490 |
| 2004 | 3,265 |
| 2005 | 3,051 |
| 2006 | 2,836 |
| 2007 | 2,668 |
| 2008 | 2,516 |
| 2009 | 2,402 |
| 2010 | 2,257 |
| 2011 | 2,131 |
| 2012 | 2,006 |
| 2013 | 1,895 |
| 2014 | 1,806 |
| 2015 | 1,738 |
| 2016 | 1,644 |
| 2017 | 1,562 |
| 2018 | 1,489 |
| 2019 | 1,423 |
| 2020 | 1,335 |
Helga in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Helga.Hi! My name is Helga.
- Har du träffat Helga? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Helga? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Helga i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Helga this afternoon.
- Helgas mamma är lärare.Helga's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Helgas mamma is Helga's mum.
More names
Questions about Helga
How do you pronounce Helga in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Helga from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Helga mean?
From Old Swedish Hiælgha, Hælgha, from Old Norse Helga.
How popular is Helga in Sweden?
17 babies were named Helga in 2022. In 2020, 1,335 people in Sweden had Helga as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2021 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.