Iris
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek; a flower name used since the end of the 19th century. From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Iris (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, Iris has been fairly steady 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 | 19 |
| 1999 | 11 |
| 2000 | 12 |
| 2001 | 24 |
| 2002 | 31 |
| 2003 | 36 |
| 2004 | 45 |
| 2005 | 67 |
| 2006 | 87 |
| 2007 | 96 |
| 2008 | 149 |
| 2009 | 156 |
| 2010 | 163 |
| 2011 | 197 |
| 2012 | 187 |
| 2013 | 229 |
| 2014 | 237 |
| 2015 | 280 |
| 2016 | 290 |
| 2017 | 310 |
| 2018 | 340 |
| 2019 | 350 |
| 2020 | 318 |
| 2021 | 369 |
| 2022 | 345 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 6,848 | – |
| 2000 | 6,622 | – |
| 2001 | 6,445 | – |
| 2002 | 6,234 | – |
| 2003 | 6,082 | – |
| 2004 | 5,905 | – |
| 2005 | 5,773 | – |
| 2006 | 5,611 | – |
| 2007 | 5,499 | – |
| 2008 | 5,447 | – |
| 2009 | 5,432 | – |
| 2010 | 5,360 | – |
| 2011 | 5,361 | – |
| 2012 | 5,339 | – |
| 2013 | 5,375 | – |
| 2014 | 5,438 | – |
| 2015 | 5,555 | – |
| 2016 | 5,674 | – |
| 2017 | 5,797 | – |
| 2018 | 5,960 | – |
| 2019 | 6,145 | 10 |
| 2020 | 6,315 | 10 |
Iris in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Iris.Hi! My name is Iris.
- Iris har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Iris has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Iris kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Iris is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Iris mamma är lärare.Iris's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Iris mamma is Iris's mum. Because Iris already ends in s, nothing is added.
More names
Questions about Iris
How do you pronounce Iris in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Iris from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Iris mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek; a flower name used since the end of the 19th century. From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).
How popular is Iris in Sweden?
345 babies were named Iris in 2022. In 2020, 6,325 people in Sweden had Iris as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady 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.