Jonah
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. From the Hebrew יוֹנָה (yônâh, “dove”). Doublet of Jonas.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Jonah (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, Jonah has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. 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 | 10 |
| 2005 | 11 |
| 2006 | 22 |
| 2007 | 23 |
| 2008 | 24 |
| 2009 | 23 |
| 2010 | 23 |
| 2011 | 17 |
| 2012 | 21 |
| 2013 | 24 |
| 2014 | 15 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2016 | 25 |
| 2017 | 16 |
| 2018 | 22 |
| 2019 | 26 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 17 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 26 |
| 2000 | 31 |
| 2001 | 34 |
| 2002 | 38 |
| 2003 | 44 |
| 2004 | 54 |
| 2005 | 67 |
| 2006 | 88 |
| 2007 | 112 |
| 2008 | 137 |
| 2009 | 157 |
| 2010 | 179 |
| 2011 | 198 |
| 2012 | 221 |
| 2013 | 254 |
| 2014 | 270 |
| 2015 | 290 |
| 2016 | 314 |
| 2017 | 328 |
| 2018 | 357 |
| 2019 | 391 |
| 2020 | 399 |
Jonah in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Jonah.Hi! My name is Jonah.
- Jonah bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Jonah lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jonah har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Jonah has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jonahs mamma är lärare.Jonah's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Jonahs mamma is Jonah's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Jonah
How do you pronounce Jonah in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Jonah in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Jonah mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. From the Hebrew יוֹנָה (yônâh, “dove”). Doublet of Jonas.
How popular is Jonah in Sweden?
17 babies were named Jonah in 2022. In 2020, 399 people in Sweden had Jonah as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2019 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.