Ola
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name derived from Olaf or Olof.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ola (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ola has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. 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 | 31 |
| 1999 | 13 |
| 2000 | 13 |
| 2001 | 12 |
| 2002 | 18 |
| 2003 | 14 |
| 2004 | 4 |
| 2005 | 10 |
| 2006 | 18 |
| 2007 | 11 |
| 2008 | 9 |
| 2009 | 5 |
| 2010 | 10 |
| 2011 | 11 |
| 2012 | 3 |
| 2013 | 11 |
| 2014 | 5 |
| 2015 | 4 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 12 |
| 2022 | 6 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 14 | 9,376 |
| 2000 | 16 | 9,454 |
| 2001 | 15 | 9,549 |
| 2002 | 14 | 9,622 |
| 2003 | 19 | 9,719 |
| 2004 | 21 | 9,763 |
| 2005 | 24 | 9,776 |
| 2006 | 30 | 9,799 |
| 2007 | 33 | 9,768 |
| 2008 | 46 | 9,778 |
| 2009 | 50 | 9,766 |
| 2010 | 56 | 9,740 |
| 2011 | 65 | 9,717 |
| 2012 | 75 | 9,707 |
| 2013 | 84 | 9,702 |
| 2014 | 120 | 9,699 |
| 2015 | 182 | 9,676 |
| 2016 | 247 | 9,651 |
| 2017 | 287 | 9,636 |
| 2018 | 313 | 9,602 |
| 2019 | 333 | 9,584 |
| 2020 | 341 | 9,548 |
Ola in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ola.Hi! My name is Ola.
- Ola bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Ola lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Ola har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ola has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Olas mamma är lärare.Ola's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Olas mamma is Ola's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Ola
How do you pronounce Ola in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ola from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Ola mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name derived from Olaf or Olof.
How popular is Ola in Sweden?
6 babies were named Ola in 2022. In 2020, 9,889 people in Sweden had Ola as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 1998 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.