Nanna
Meaning and origin
From Old Norse Nanna, with Norse levelling of -nþ- to -nn- from Proto-Germanic *nanþ- (“brave, daring”), related to *ninþaną (“to dare”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Nanna (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Nanna has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2008. 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 | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 11 |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 10 |
| 2003 | 10 |
| 2004 | 15 |
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2006 | 9 |
| 2007 | 11 |
| 2008 | 16 |
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2010 | 11 |
| 2011 | 15 |
| 2012 | 13 |
| 2013 | 10 |
| 2014 | 6 |
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2016 | 11 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 13 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2022 | 11 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,626 |
| 2000 | 1,559 |
| 2001 | 1,508 |
| 2002 | 1,449 |
| 2003 | 1,392 |
| 2004 | 1,346 |
| 2005 | 1,302 |
| 2006 | 1,252 |
| 2007 | 1,223 |
| 2008 | 1,188 |
| 2009 | 1,152 |
| 2010 | 1,119 |
| 2011 | 1,080 |
| 2012 | 1,045 |
| 2013 | 1,023 |
| 2014 | 999 |
| 2015 | 978 |
| 2016 | 963 |
| 2017 | 967 |
| 2018 | 953 |
| 2019 | 933 |
| 2020 | 920 |
Nanna in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Nanna.Hi! My name is Nanna.
- Nanna ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Nanna called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Jag ska fika med Nanna i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Nanna this afternoon.
- Nannas mamma är lärare.Nanna's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Nannas mamma is Nanna's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Nanna
How do you pronounce Nanna in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Nanna from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Nanna mean?
From Old Norse Nanna, with Norse levelling of -nþ- to -nn- from Proto-Germanic *nanþ- (“brave, daring”), related to *ninþaną (“to dare”).
How popular is Nanna in Sweden?
11 babies were named Nanna in 2022. In 2020, 920 people in Sweden had Nanna as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2008 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.