Ruben
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. From Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (r'uvén).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ruben (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ruben has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2009. 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 | 37 |
| 1999 | 29 |
| 2000 | 21 |
| 2001 | 45 |
| 2002 | 53 |
| 2003 | 38 |
| 2004 | 43 |
| 2005 | 58 |
| 2006 | 71 |
| 2007 | 83 |
| 2008 | 89 |
| 2009 | 118 |
| 2010 | 106 |
| 2011 | 80 |
| 2012 | 104 |
| 2013 | 90 |
| 2014 | 73 |
| 2015 | 77 |
| 2016 | 89 |
| 2017 | 92 |
| 2018 | 83 |
| 2019 | 88 |
| 2020 | 101 |
| 2021 | 117 |
| 2022 | 110 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 984 |
| 2000 | 993 |
| 2001 | 1,034 |
| 2002 | 1,079 |
| 2003 | 1,102 |
| 2004 | 1,122 |
| 2005 | 1,172 |
| 2006 | 1,226 |
| 2007 | 1,290 |
| 2008 | 1,379 |
| 2009 | 1,488 |
| 2010 | 1,588 |
| 2011 | 1,667 |
| 2012 | 1,758 |
| 2013 | 1,845 |
| 2014 | 1,922 |
| 2015 | 1,998 |
| 2016 | 2,090 |
| 2017 | 2,191 |
| 2018 | 2,261 |
| 2019 | 2,358 |
| 2020 | 2,460 |
Ruben in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ruben.Hi! My name is Ruben.
- Ruben bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Ruben lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Ruben har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ruben has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Rubens mamma är lärare.Ruben's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Rubens mamma is Ruben's mum.
More names
Questions about Ruben
How do you pronounce Ruben in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ruben in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Ruben mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. From Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (r'uvén).
How popular is Ruben in Sweden?
110 babies were named Ruben in 2022. In 2020, 2,460 people in Sweden had Ruben as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2009 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.