Joel
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Joel (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Joel has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2003. 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 | 402 |
| 1999 | 389 |
| 2000 | 410 |
| 2001 | 474 |
| 2002 | 485 |
| 2003 | 511 |
| 2004 | 477 |
| 2005 | 498 |
| 2006 | 457 |
| 2007 | 391 |
| 2008 | 279 |
| 2009 | 288 |
| 2010 | 295 |
| 2011 | 245 |
| 2012 | 214 |
| 2013 | 181 |
| 2014 | 211 |
| 2015 | 186 |
| 2016 | 169 |
| 2017 | 166 |
| 2018 | 161 |
| 2019 | 146 |
| 2020 | 134 |
| 2021 | 118 |
| 2022 | 120 |
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 | – | 9,073 |
| 2000 | – | 9,446 |
| 2001 | – | 9,908 |
| 2002 | – | 10,379 |
| 2003 | – | 10,890 |
| 2004 | – | 11,357 |
| 2005 | – | 11,844 |
| 2006 | – | 12,270 |
| 2007 | – | 12,633 |
| 2008 | – | 12,913 |
| 2009 | – | 13,180 |
| 2010 | – | 13,451 |
| 2011 | – | 13,647 |
| 2012 | – | 13,835 |
| 2013 | – | 14,008 |
| 2014 | – | 14,205 |
| 2015 | – | 14,397 |
| 2016 | 10 | 14,573 |
| 2017 | 17 | 14,726 |
| 2018 | 17 | 14,866 |
| 2019 | 17 | 15,017 |
| 2020 | 20 | 15,140 |
Joel in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Joel.Hi! My name is Joel.
- Joel bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Joel lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Joel i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Joel this afternoon.
- Joels mamma är lärare.Joel's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Joels mamma is Joel's mum.
More names
Questions about Joel
How do you pronounce Joel in Swedish?
In IPA, Joel is /¹juːɛl/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Joel mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
How popular is Joel in Sweden?
120 babies were named Joel in 2022. In 2020, 15,160 people in Sweden had Joel as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2003 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.