Ingela
Meaning and origin
Originally a German diminutive of names beginning with the Germanic element Ingel-, Engel-, in Sweden also used for Ing- names, such as Inga and Ingegerd.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ingela (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. 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 | 4 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | – |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | – |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | 3 |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | – |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 12,542 |
| 2000 | 12,546 |
| 2001 | 12,538 |
| 2002 | 12,534 |
| 2003 | 12,584 |
| 2004 | 12,582 |
| 2005 | 12,525 |
| 2006 | 12,520 |
| 2007 | 12,514 |
| 2008 | 12,533 |
| 2009 | 12,528 |
| 2010 | 12,492 |
| 2011 | 12,475 |
| 2012 | 12,434 |
| 2013 | 12,403 |
| 2014 | 12,373 |
| 2015 | 12,327 |
| 2016 | 12,301 |
| 2017 | 12,252 |
| 2018 | 12,176 |
| 2019 | 12,114 |
| 2020 | 12,060 |
Ingela in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ingela.Hi! My name is Ingela.
- Ingela bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Ingela lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Ingela har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ingela has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Ingelas mamma är lärare.Ingela's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ingelas mamma is Ingela's mum.
More names
Questions about Ingela
How do you pronounce Ingela in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ingela from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Ingela mean?
Originally a German diminutive of names beginning with the Germanic element Ingel-, Engel-, in Sweden also used for Ing- names, such as Inga and Ingegerd.
How popular is Ingela in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Ingela in 2022. In 2020, 12,060 people in Sweden had Ingela as the first name they go by.
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.