Kent
Meaning and origin
Borrowed from English Kent at the same time as Kenneth. Generally interpreted as a short form of Kenneth in Scandinavia. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1923.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Kent (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Kent has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2004. 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 | 6 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | 4 |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | 5 |
| 2011 | 2 |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 20,245 |
| 2000 | 20,049 |
| 2001 | 19,840 |
| 2002 | 19,638 |
| 2003 | 19,489 |
| 2004 | 19,318 |
| 2005 | 19,140 |
| 2006 | 18,959 |
| 2007 | 18,830 |
| 2008 | 18,720 |
| 2009 | 18,598 |
| 2010 | 18,472 |
| 2011 | 18,339 |
| 2012 | 18,198 |
| 2013 | 18,027 |
| 2014 | 17,857 |
| 2015 | 17,674 |
| 2016 | 17,484 |
| 2017 | 17,279 |
| 2018 | 17,051 |
| 2019 | 16,788 |
| 2020 | 16,505 |
Kent in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Kent.Hi! My name is Kent.
- Kent bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Kent lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Kent i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Kent this afternoon.
- Kents mamma är lärare.Kent's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Kents mamma is Kent's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Kent
How do you pronounce Kent in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Kent from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Kent mean?
Borrowed from English Kent at the same time as Kenneth. Generally interpreted as a short form of Kenneth in Scandinavia. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1923.
How popular is Kent in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Kent in 2022. In 2020, 16,505 people in Sweden had Kent as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2004 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.