Pernilla
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name derived from Petronella.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Pernilla (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Pernilla has been falling 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 | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 47 |
| 1999 | 30 |
| 2000 | 18 |
| 2001 | 21 |
| 2002 | 16 |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2008 | 5 |
| 2009 | 2 |
| 2010 | 5 |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | – |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 12,628 |
| 2000 | 12,742 |
| 2001 | 12,853 |
| 2002 | 12,948 |
| 2003 | 13,066 |
| 2004 | 13,111 |
| 2005 | 13,102 |
| 2006 | 13,134 |
| 2007 | 13,139 |
| 2008 | 13,219 |
| 2009 | 13,202 |
| 2010 | 13,189 |
| 2011 | 13,185 |
| 2012 | 13,178 |
| 2013 | 13,184 |
| 2014 | 13,166 |
| 2015 | 13,153 |
| 2016 | 13,156 |
| 2017 | 13,149 |
| 2018 | 13,148 |
| 2019 | 13,131 |
| 2020 | 13,136 |
Pernilla in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Pernilla.Hi! My name is Pernilla.
- Har du träffat Pernilla? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Pernilla? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Pernilla i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Pernilla this afternoon.
- Pernillas mamma är lärare.Pernilla's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Pernillas mamma is Pernilla's mum.
More names
Questions about Pernilla
How do you pronounce Pernilla in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Pernilla from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Pernilla mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name derived from Petronella.
How popular is Pernilla in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Pernilla in 2022. In 2020, 13,136 people in Sweden had Pernilla as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling 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.