Leo
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, equivalent to English Leo.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Leo (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Leo has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2010. 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 | 109 |
| 1999 | 140 |
| 2000 | 178 |
| 2001 | 238 |
| 2002 | 312 |
| 2003 | 454 |
| 2004 | 575 |
| 2005 | 631 |
| 2006 | 666 |
| 2007 | 658 |
| 2008 | 682 |
| 2009 | 681 |
| 2010 | 757 |
| 2011 | 634 |
| 2012 | 666 |
| 2013 | 613 |
| 2014 | 563 |
| 2015 | 543 |
| 2016 | 535 |
| 2017 | 543 |
| 2018 | 521 |
| 2019 | 546 |
| 2020 | 540 |
| 2021 | 559 |
| 2022 | 540 |
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 | – | 2,357 |
| 2000 | – | 2,528 |
| 2001 | – | 2,759 |
| 2002 | – | 3,047 |
| 2003 | – | 3,481 |
| 2004 | – | 4,020 |
| 2005 | – | 4,615 |
| 2006 | – | 5,264 |
| 2007 | – | 5,893 |
| 2008 | – | 6,581 |
| 2009 | – | 7,272 |
| 2010 | – | 8,021 |
| 2011 | – | 8,658 |
| 2012 | – | 9,318 |
| 2013 | – | 9,922 |
| 2014 | – | 10,468 |
| 2015 | – | 11,004 |
| 2016 | 13 | 11,552 |
| 2017 | 19 | 12,102 |
| 2018 | 25 | 12,642 |
| 2019 | 34 | 13,201 |
| 2020 | 37 | 13,724 |
Leo in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Leo.Hi! My name is Leo.
- Leo ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Leo called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Jag ska fika med Leo i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Leo this afternoon.
- Leos mamma är lärare.Leo's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Leos mamma is Leo's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Leo
How do you pronounce Leo in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Leo from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Leo mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, equivalent to English Leo.
How popular is Leo in Sweden?
540 babies were named Leo in 2022. In 2020, 13,761 people in Sweden had Leo as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2010 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.