Signe
Meaning and origin
First recorded in Sweden in 1382. From Old Norse Signý. In Norse mythology the name of a princess who killed herself after her lover's death.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Signe (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Signe has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2020. 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 | 48 |
| 1999 | 38 |
| 2000 | 55 |
| 2001 | 82 |
| 2002 | 81 |
| 2003 | 102 |
| 2004 | 114 |
| 2005 | 134 |
| 2006 | 186 |
| 2007 | 252 |
| 2008 | 247 |
| 2009 | 303 |
| 2010 | 352 |
| 2011 | 362 |
| 2012 | 393 |
| 2013 | 414 |
| 2014 | 427 |
| 2015 | 421 |
| 2016 | 450 |
| 2017 | 507 |
| 2018 | 538 |
| 2019 | 511 |
| 2020 | 554 |
| 2021 | 531 |
| 2022 | 456 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 11,797 |
| 2000 | 11,072 |
| 2001 | 10,373 |
| 2002 | 9,708 |
| 2003 | 9,166 |
| 2004 | 8,591 |
| 2005 | 8,176 |
| 2006 | 7,825 |
| 2007 | 7,543 |
| 2008 | 7,294 |
| 2009 | 7,194 |
| 2010 | 7,156 |
| 2011 | 7,176 |
| 2012 | 7,165 |
| 2013 | 7,252 |
| 2014 | 7,378 |
| 2015 | 7,526 |
| 2016 | 7,716 |
| 2017 | 8,002 |
| 2018 | 8,302 |
| 2019 | 8,624 |
| 2020 | 8,952 |
Signe in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Signe.Hi! My name is Signe.
- Signe bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Signe lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Signe har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Signe has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Signes mamma är lärare.Signe's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Signes mamma is Signe's mum.
More names
Questions about Signe
How do you pronounce Signe in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Signe from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Signe mean?
First recorded in Sweden in 1382. From Old Norse Signý. In Norse mythology the name of a princess who killed herself after her lover's death.
How popular is Signe in Sweden?
456 babies were named Signe in 2022. In 2020, 8,952 people in Sweden had Signe as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2020 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.