Hilding
Meaning and origin
Old Norse Hildingr, from hildingr (“ruler, war chief”). Made popular by a character in Tegnér's Fritiof's Saga.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Hilding (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Hilding has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2017. 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 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 11 |
| 2005 | 13 |
| 2006 | 11 |
| 2007 | 18 |
| 2008 | 22 |
| 2009 | 19 |
| 2010 | 33 |
| 2011 | 27 |
| 2012 | 31 |
| 2013 | 37 |
| 2014 | 29 |
| 2015 | 31 |
| 2016 | 47 |
| 2017 | 48 |
| 2018 | 44 |
| 2019 | 37 |
| 2020 | 48 |
| 2021 | 37 |
| 2022 | 43 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,376 |
| 2000 | 1,293 |
| 2001 | 1,193 |
| 2002 | 1,101 |
| 2003 | 1,017 |
| 2004 | 984 |
| 2005 | 957 |
| 2006 | 906 |
| 2007 | 849 |
| 2008 | 815 |
| 2009 | 787 |
| 2010 | 757 |
| 2011 | 747 |
| 2012 | 738 |
| 2013 | 727 |
| 2014 | 728 |
| 2015 | 726 |
| 2016 | 753 |
| 2017 | 784 |
| 2018 | 802 |
| 2019 | 813 |
| 2020 | 848 |
Hilding in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Hilding.Hi! My name is Hilding.
- Har du träffat Hilding? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Hilding? He started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Hilding i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Hilding this afternoon.
- Hildings mamma är lärare.Hilding's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Hildings mamma is Hilding's mum.
More names
Questions about Hilding
How do you pronounce Hilding in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Hilding from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Hilding mean?
Old Norse Hildingr, from hildingr (“ruler, war chief”). Made popular by a character in Tegnér's Fritiof's Saga.
How popular is Hilding in Sweden?
43 babies were named Hilding in 2022. In 2020, 848 people in Sweden had Hilding as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2017 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.