Ossian
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from English. From English Ossian. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1804.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ossian (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ossian has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2010. 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 | 16 |
| 1999 | 23 |
| 2000 | 26 |
| 2001 | 24 |
| 2002 | 33 |
| 2003 | 45 |
| 2004 | 48 |
| 2005 | 48 |
| 2006 | 47 |
| 2007 | 85 |
| 2008 | 63 |
| 2009 | 81 |
| 2010 | 104 |
| 2011 | 84 |
| 2012 | 88 |
| 2013 | 88 |
| 2014 | 92 |
| 2015 | 90 |
| 2016 | 83 |
| 2017 | 79 |
| 2018 | 81 |
| 2019 | 80 |
| 2020 | 81 |
| 2021 | 80 |
| 2022 | 65 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 352 |
| 2000 | 367 |
| 2001 | 383 |
| 2002 | 411 |
| 2003 | 454 |
| 2004 | 493 |
| 2005 | 533 |
| 2006 | 572 |
| 2007 | 651 |
| 2008 | 714 |
| 2009 | 793 |
| 2010 | 890 |
| 2011 | 974 |
| 2012 | 1,056 |
| 2013 | 1,142 |
| 2014 | 1,231 |
| 2015 | 1,316 |
| 2016 | 1,396 |
| 2017 | 1,473 |
| 2018 | 1,554 |
| 2019 | 1,630 |
| 2020 | 1,714 |
Ossian in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ossian.Hi! My name is Ossian.
- Ossian har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ossian has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Ossian kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Ossian is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Ossians mamma är lärare.Ossian's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ossians mamma is Ossian's mum.
More names
Questions about Ossian
How do you pronounce Ossian in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ossian in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Ossian mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from English. From English Ossian. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1804.
How popular is Ossian in Sweden?
65 babies were named Ossian in 2022. In 2020, 1,714 people in Sweden had Ossian as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2010 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.