Sten
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Steinn, from steinn (“stone”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Sten (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Sten has been rising 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 | 8 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 9 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2008 | 9 |
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 8 |
| 2013 | 9 |
| 2014 | 9 |
| 2015 | 5 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 14 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 11 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 17,661 |
| 2000 | 17,142 |
| 2001 | 16,604 |
| 2002 | 16,088 |
| 2003 | 15,585 |
| 2004 | 15,089 |
| 2005 | 14,610 |
| 2006 | 14,131 |
| 2007 | 13,756 |
| 2008 | 13,396 |
| 2009 | 13,055 |
| 2010 | 12,692 |
| 2011 | 12,348 |
| 2012 | 12,032 |
| 2013 | 11,650 |
| 2014 | 11,295 |
| 2015 | 10,942 |
| 2016 | 10,576 |
| 2017 | 10,209 |
| 2018 | 9,864 |
| 2019 | 9,489 |
| 2020 | 9,048 |
Sten in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Sten.Hi! My name is Sten.
- Sten ringde och sa att han blir lite sen.Sten called and said he'll be a bit late.
- Jag ska fika med Sten i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Sten this afternoon.
- Stens mamma är lärare.Sten's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Stens mamma is Sten's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Sten
How do you pronounce Sten in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Sten from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Sten mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse. From Old Norse Steinn, from steinn (“stone”).
How popular is Sten in Sweden?
11 babies were named Sten in 2022. In 2020, 9,048 people in Sweden had Sten as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising 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.