Roland
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, equivalent to English Roland. Cognate with English and French Roland. First recorded as a Swedish name in 1397, but not in common use before the 20th century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Roland (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Roland has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2005. 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 | – |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | 4 |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | 3 |
| 2014 | 4 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | 3 |
| 2022 | 3 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 12,499 |
| 2000 | 12,486 |
| 2001 | 12,497 |
| 2002 | 12,451 |
| 2003 | 12,497 |
| 2004 | 12,458 |
| 2005 | 12,310 |
| 2006 | 12,265 |
| 2007 | 12,159 |
| 2008 | 12,126 |
| 2009 | 12,007 |
| 2010 | 11,841 |
| 2011 | 11,705 |
| 2012 | 11,553 |
| 2013 | 11,379 |
| 2014 | 11,200 |
| 2015 | 10,997 |
| 2016 | 10,809 |
| 2017 | 10,608 |
| 2018 | 10,443 |
| 2019 | 10,242 |
| 2020 | 10,031 |
Roland in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Roland.Hi! My name is Roland.
- Roland bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Roland lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Vet du om Roland kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Roland is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Rolands mamma är lärare.Roland's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Rolands mamma is Roland's mum.
More names
Questions about Roland
How do you pronounce Roland in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Roland from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Roland mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, equivalent to English Roland. Cognate with English and French Roland. First recorded as a Swedish name in 1397, but not in common use before the 20th century.
How popular is Roland in Sweden?
3 babies were named Roland in 2022. In 2020, 10,031 people in Sweden had Roland as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2005 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.