Ilona
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek. From Hungarian Ilona. A rare variant of Helen or Helena.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Ilona (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ilona has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2011. 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 | 9 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 9 |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2008 | 8 |
| 2009 | 9 |
| 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | 12 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 7 |
| 2014 | 7 |
| 2015 | 9 |
| 2016 | 6 |
| 2017 | 10 |
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2019 | 10 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 10 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 990 |
| 2000 | 994 |
| 2001 | 987 |
| 2002 | 996 |
| 2003 | 1,013 |
| 2004 | 1,026 |
| 2005 | 1,035 |
| 2006 | 1,062 |
| 2007 | 1,073 |
| 2008 | 1,096 |
| 2009 | 1,119 |
| 2010 | 1,134 |
| 2011 | 1,140 |
| 2012 | 1,159 |
| 2013 | 1,166 |
| 2014 | 1,179 |
| 2015 | 1,192 |
| 2016 | 1,204 |
| 2017 | 1,215 |
| 2018 | 1,213 |
| 2019 | 1,203 |
| 2020 | 1,206 |
Ilona in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ilona.Hi! My name is Ilona.
- Ilona har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ilona has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Ilona i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Ilona this afternoon.
- Ilonas mamma är lärare.Ilona's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ilonas mamma is Ilona's mum.
More names
Questions about Ilona
How do you pronounce Ilona in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ilona in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Ilona mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek. From Hungarian Ilona. A rare variant of Helen or Helena.
How popular is Ilona in Sweden?
10 babies were named Ilona in 2022. In 2020, 1,206 people in Sweden had Ilona as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2011 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.