Nilla
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given names Pernilla and Gunilla.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Nilla (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Nilla has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2007. 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 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 7 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2007 | 12 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 7 |
| 2010 | 7 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 12 |
| 2013 | 9 |
| 2014 | 5 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 3 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 177 |
| 2000 | 190 |
| 2001 | 196 |
| 2002 | 207 |
| 2003 | 217 |
| 2004 | 226 |
| 2005 | 232 |
| 2006 | 239 |
| 2007 | 255 |
| 2008 | 263 |
| 2009 | 267 |
| 2010 | 278 |
| 2011 | 290 |
| 2012 | 298 |
| 2013 | 306 |
| 2014 | 316 |
| 2015 | 321 |
| 2016 | 329 |
| 2017 | 336 |
| 2018 | 349 |
| 2019 | 365 |
| 2020 | 376 |
Nilla in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Nilla.Hi! My name is Nilla.
- Nilla ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Nilla called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Nilla har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Nilla has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Nillas mamma är lärare.Nilla's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Nillas mamma is Nilla's mum.
More names
Questions about Nilla
How do you pronounce Nilla in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Nilla from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Nilla mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given names Pernilla and Gunilla.
How popular is Nilla in Sweden?
3 babies were named Nilla in 2022. In 2020, 376 people in Sweden had Nilla as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2007 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.