Leopold
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Germanic languages. Used in the 19th century but rare today. From Old French Leopold, from Old High German liut (“people”) + bald (“bold”). The first part is sometimes associated by folk etymology with Latin leo (“lion”), as in Leo and Leonard. More at lede, bold.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Leopold (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, Leopold has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2014. 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 | 16 |
| 2002 | 15 |
| 2003 | 19 |
| 2004 | 19 |
| 2005 | 22 |
| 2006 | 18 |
| 2007 | 19 |
| 2008 | 25 |
| 2009 | 22 |
| 2010 | 24 |
| 2011 | 19 |
| 2012 | 16 |
| 2013 | 19 |
| 2014 | 33 |
| 2015 | 19 |
| 2016 | 28 |
| 2017 | 23 |
| 2018 | 15 |
| 2019 | 30 |
| 2020 | 22 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2022 | 24 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 194 |
| 2000 | 197 |
| 2001 | 210 |
| 2002 | 223 |
| 2003 | 243 |
| 2004 | 262 |
| 2005 | 279 |
| 2006 | 297 |
| 2007 | 318 |
| 2008 | 343 |
| 2009 | 365 |
| 2010 | 392 |
| 2011 | 407 |
| 2012 | 418 |
| 2013 | 433 |
| 2014 | 461 |
| 2015 | 474 |
| 2016 | 504 |
| 2017 | 526 |
| 2018 | 537 |
| 2019 | 559 |
| 2020 | 575 |
Leopold in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Leopold.Hi! My name is Leopold.
- Har du träffat Leopold? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Leopold? He started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Leopold kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Leopold is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Leopolds mamma är lärare.Leopold's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Leopolds mamma is Leopold's mum.
More names
Questions about Leopold
How do you pronounce Leopold in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Leopold in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Leopold mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from the Germanic languages. Used in the 19th century but rare today. From Old French Leopold, from Old High German liut (“people”) + bald (“bold”). The first part is sometimes associated by folk etymology with Latin leo (“lion”), as in Leo and Leonard. More at lede, bold.
How popular is Leopold in Sweden?
24 babies were named Leopold in 2022. In 2020, 575 people in Sweden had Leopold as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2014 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.