Roman
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Latin recently borrowed from continental Europe. From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. By surface analysis, Rom(e) + -an. Doublet of Romano. Displaced native Romish. * In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Roman (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Roman has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2007. 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 | 4 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2008 | 7 |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | 9 |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2012 | 6 |
| 2013 | 3 |
| 2014 | 3 |
| 2015 | 10 |
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | 7 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 4 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 15 | 323 |
| 2000 | 16 | 326 |
| 2001 | 16 | 341 |
| 2002 | 16 | 349 |
| 2003 | 17 | 361 |
| 2004 | 18 | 375 |
| 2005 | 19 | 417 |
| 2006 | 19 | 457 |
| 2007 | 19 | 510 |
| 2008 | 18 | 565 |
| 2009 | 20 | 598 |
| 2010 | 23 | 620 |
| 2011 | 23 | 644 |
| 2012 | 23 | 680 |
| 2013 | 26 | 717 |
| 2014 | 30 | 754 |
| 2015 | 32 | 789 |
| 2016 | 34 | 814 |
| 2017 | 38 | 855 |
| 2018 | 40 | 896 |
| 2019 | 45 | 920 |
| 2020 | 45 | 947 |
Roman in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Roman.Hi! My name is Roman.
- Har du träffat Roman? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Roman? He started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Roman i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Roman this afternoon.
- Romans mamma är lärare.Roman's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Romans mamma is Roman's mum.
More names
Questions about Roman
How do you pronounce Roman in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Roman in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Roman mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Latin recently borrowed from continental Europe. From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. By surface analysis, Rom(e) + -an. Doublet of Romano. Displaced native Romish. * In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos).
How popular is Roman in Sweden?
4 babies were named Roman in 2022. In 2020, 992 people in Sweden had Roman as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2007 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.