Leonard
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Germanic languages. From Old French Leonard, name of a 6th century Frankish saint, from Old High German leo (“lion”) or Old High German liut (“person”) and hart (“hard”). As a surname, also used as an anglicisation of Irish Ó Leannáin (Lennon).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Leonard (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, Leonard has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. 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 | 22 |
| 1999 | 27 |
| 2000 | 44 |
| 2001 | 33 |
| 2002 | 35 |
| 2003 | 53 |
| 2004 | 47 |
| 2005 | 44 |
| 2006 | 50 |
| 2007 | 48 |
| 2008 | 48 |
| 2009 | 47 |
| 2010 | 53 |
| 2011 | 42 |
| 2012 | 63 |
| 2013 | 52 |
| 2014 | 46 |
| 2015 | 58 |
| 2016 | 57 |
| 2017 | 74 |
| 2018 | 77 |
| 2019 | 52 |
| 2020 | 57 |
| 2021 | 78 |
| 2022 | 57 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 569 |
| 2000 | 613 |
| 2001 | 646 |
| 2002 | 681 |
| 2003 | 740 |
| 2004 | 790 |
| 2005 | 834 |
| 2006 | 889 |
| 2007 | 938 |
| 2008 | 993 |
| 2009 | 1,040 |
| 2010 | 1,090 |
| 2011 | 1,127 |
| 2012 | 1,185 |
| 2013 | 1,238 |
| 2014 | 1,283 |
| 2015 | 1,346 |
| 2016 | 1,408 |
| 2017 | 1,487 |
| 2018 | 1,564 |
| 2019 | 1,625 |
| 2020 | 1,702 |
Leonard in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Leonard.Hi! My name is Leonard.
- Leonard har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Leonard has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Leonard i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Leonard this afternoon.
- Leonards mamma är lärare.Leonard's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Leonards mamma is Leonard's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Leonard
How do you pronounce Leonard in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Leonard in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Leonard mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Germanic languages. From Old French Leonard, name of a 6th century Frankish saint, from Old High German leo (“lion”) or Old High German liut (“person”) and hart (“hard”). As a surname, also used as an anglicisation of Irish Ó Leannáin (Lennon).
How popular is Leonard in Sweden?
57 babies were named Leonard in 2022. In 2020, 1,702 people in Sweden had Leonard as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2021 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.