Kalle
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the male given name Karl. Affix of the first letters in Karl, based on the non-rhotic pronunciation, Kal + (gemination) l + (hypocoristic suffix) -e. Compare with Swedish male given name hypocoristic forming.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Kalle (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Kalle 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 | 52 |
| 1999 | 44 |
| 2000 | 72 |
| 2001 | 67 |
| 2002 | 83 |
| 2003 | 90 |
| 2004 | 81 |
| 2005 | 90 |
| 2006 | 77 |
| 2007 | 74 |
| 2008 | 38 |
| 2009 | 64 |
| 2010 | 51 |
| 2011 | 47 |
| 2012 | 53 |
| 2013 | 52 |
| 2014 | 38 |
| 2015 | 47 |
| 2016 | 35 |
| 2017 | 35 |
| 2018 | 21 |
| 2019 | 21 |
| 2020 | 21 |
| 2021 | 22 |
| 2022 | 14 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,403 |
| 2000 | 1,469 |
| 2001 | 1,539 |
| 2002 | 1,639 |
| 2003 | 1,721 |
| 2004 | 1,805 |
| 2005 | 1,880 |
| 2006 | 1,964 |
| 2007 | 2,031 |
| 2008 | 2,082 |
| 2009 | 2,146 |
| 2010 | 2,200 |
| 2011 | 2,250 |
| 2012 | 2,307 |
| 2013 | 2,368 |
| 2014 | 2,415 |
| 2015 | 2,468 |
| 2016 | 2,497 |
| 2017 | 2,537 |
| 2018 | 2,566 |
| 2019 | 2,605 |
| 2020 | 2,629 |
Kalle in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Kalle.Hi! My name is Kalle.
- Kalle har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Kalle has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Kalle kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Kalle is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Kalles mamma är lärare.Kalle's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Kalles mamma is Kalle's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Kalle
How do you pronounce Kalle in Swedish?
In IPA, Kalle is /²kalɛ/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Kalle mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the male given name Karl. Affix of the first letters in Karl, based on the non-rhotic pronunciation, Kal + (gemination) l + (hypocoristic suffix) -e. Compare with Swedish male given name hypocoristic forming.
How popular is Kalle in Sweden?
14 babies were named Kalle in 2022. In 2020, 2,629 people in Sweden had Kalle 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.