Ole
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Danish. Borrowed from Danish Ole.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Ole (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, Ole has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2011. 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 | 2 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | 3 |
| 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | 3 |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 983 |
| 2000 | 991 |
| 2001 | 1,002 |
| 2002 | 1,034 |
| 2003 | 1,037 |
| 2004 | 1,036 |
| 2005 | 1,024 |
| 2006 | 1,026 |
| 2007 | 1,026 |
| 2008 | 1,017 |
| 2009 | 1,005 |
| 2010 | 995 |
| 2011 | 998 |
| 2012 | 981 |
| 2013 | 945 |
| 2014 | 930 |
| 2015 | 929 |
| 2016 | 932 |
| 2017 | 920 |
| 2018 | 916 |
| 2019 | 904 |
| 2020 | 881 |
Ole in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ole.Hi! My name is Ole.
- Ole bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Ole lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Ole i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Ole this afternoon.
- Oles mamma är lärare.Ole's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Oles mamma is Ole's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Ole
How do you pronounce Ole in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ole in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Ole mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Danish. Borrowed from Danish Ole.
How popular is Ole in Sweden?
2 babies were named Ole in 2022. In 2020, 881 people in Sweden had Ole as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2011 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.