Olof
Meaning and origin
From Old Swedish Olāver, Olēf, from Old Norse Óláfr, from Proto-Norse *ᚨᚾᚢᛚᚨᛁᛒᚨᛉ (*anulaibaʀ). First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1400. Cognate with Norwegian Olav and English Olaf.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Olof (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Olof has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2016. 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 | 76 |
| 1999 | 65 |
| 2000 | 53 |
| 2001 | 79 |
| 2002 | 80 |
| 2003 | 75 |
| 2004 | 85 |
| 2005 | 77 |
| 2006 | 75 |
| 2007 | 84 |
| 2008 | 72 |
| 2009 | 87 |
| 2010 | 70 |
| 2011 | 83 |
| 2012 | 52 |
| 2013 | 66 |
| 2014 | 92 |
| 2015 | 89 |
| 2016 | 101 |
| 2017 | 91 |
| 2018 | 98 |
| 2019 | 89 |
| 2020 | 76 |
| 2021 | 64 |
| 2022 | 73 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 17,873 |
| 2000 | 17,335 |
| 2001 | 16,856 |
| 2002 | 16,405 |
| 2003 | 15,898 |
| 2004 | 15,411 |
| 2005 | 15,008 |
| 2006 | 14,546 |
| 2007 | 14,208 |
| 2008 | 13,881 |
| 2009 | 13,576 |
| 2010 | 13,256 |
| 2011 | 12,950 |
| 2012 | 12,629 |
| 2013 | 12,333 |
| 2014 | 12,106 |
| 2015 | 11,872 |
| 2016 | 11,681 |
| 2017 | 11,472 |
| 2018 | 11,283 |
| 2019 | 11,140 |
| 2020 | 10,923 |
Olof in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Olof.Hi! My name is Olof.
- Olof bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Olof lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Olof i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Olof this afternoon.
- Olofs mamma är lärare.Olof's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Olofs mamma is Olof's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Olof
How do you pronounce Olof in Swedish?
In IPA, Olof is /²uːlɔf/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Olof mean?
From Old Swedish Olāver, Olēf, from Old Norse Óláfr, from Proto-Norse *ᚨᚾᚢᛚᚨᛁᛒᚨᛉ (*anulaibaʀ). First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1400. Cognate with Norwegian Olav and English Olaf.
How popular is Olof in Sweden?
73 babies were named Olof in 2022. In 2020, 10,923 people in Sweden had Olof as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2016 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.