Nelson
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name transferred from the surname. From Middle English Neil + -son and Nell + -son. * In the United States, also an Anglicisation of North Germanic (Scandinavian) surnames such as Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson, equivalent to "son of Nicholas".
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Nelson (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, Nelson has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2017. 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 | 3 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 10 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 7 |
| 2010 | 15 |
| 2011 | 15 |
| 2012 | 17 |
| 2013 | 26 |
| 2014 | 24 |
| 2015 | 25 |
| 2016 | 23 |
| 2017 | 31 |
| 2018 | 27 |
| 2019 | 21 |
| 2020 | 19 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2022 | 18 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 206 |
| 2000 | 217 |
| 2001 | 228 |
| 2002 | 234 |
| 2003 | 239 |
| 2004 | 248 |
| 2005 | 256 |
| 2006 | 275 |
| 2007 | 292 |
| 2008 | 300 |
| 2009 | 305 |
| 2010 | 333 |
| 2011 | 354 |
| 2012 | 374 |
| 2013 | 404 |
| 2014 | 431 |
| 2015 | 460 |
| 2016 | 485 |
| 2017 | 517 |
| 2018 | 547 |
| 2019 | 581 |
| 2020 | 600 |
Nelson in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Nelson.Hi! My name is Nelson.
- Har du träffat Nelson? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Nelson? He started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Nelson i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Nelson this afternoon.
- Nelsons mamma är lärare.Nelson's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Nelsons mamma is Nelson's mum.
More names
Questions about Nelson
How do you pronounce Nelson in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Nelson in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Nelson mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name transferred from the surname. From Middle English Neil + -son and Nell + -son. * In the United States, also an Anglicisation of North Germanic (Scandinavian) surnames such as Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson, equivalent to "son of Nicholas".
How popular is Nelson in Sweden?
18 babies were named Nelson in 2022. In 2020, 600 people in Sweden had Nelson as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2017 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.