Ralf
Meaning and origin
Borrowed from English Ralph in the nineteenth century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ralf (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ralf has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2018. 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 | 3 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2007 | 3 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 12 |
| 2011 | 23 |
| 2012 | 21 |
| 2013 | 42 |
| 2014 | 37 |
| 2015 | 48 |
| 2016 | 46 |
| 2017 | 53 |
| 2018 | 63 |
| 2019 | 59 |
| 2020 | 55 |
| 2021 | 49 |
| 2022 | 51 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 2,159 |
| 2000 | 2,142 |
| 2001 | 2,121 |
| 2002 | 2,103 |
| 2003 | 2,085 |
| 2004 | 2,045 |
| 2005 | 2,034 |
| 2006 | 2,037 |
| 2007 | 2,027 |
| 2008 | 2,016 |
| 2009 | 2,020 |
| 2010 | 2,013 |
| 2011 | 2,019 |
| 2012 | 2,003 |
| 2013 | 2,019 |
| 2014 | 2,020 |
| 2015 | 2,033 |
| 2016 | 2,054 |
| 2017 | 2,095 |
| 2018 | 2,125 |
| 2019 | 2,156 |
| 2020 | 2,163 |
Ralf in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ralf.Hi! My name is Ralf.
- Har du träffat Ralf? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Ralf? He started working here on Monday.
- Ralf har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ralf has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Ralfs mamma är lärare.Ralf's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ralfs mamma is Ralf's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Ralf
How do you pronounce Ralf in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ralf from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Ralf mean?
Borrowed from English Ralph in the nineteenth century.
How popular is Ralf in Sweden?
51 babies were named Ralf in 2022. In 2020, 2,163 people in Sweden had Ralf as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2018 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.