Torkel
Meaning and origin
From Old Norse Þorkell, akin to English Torquil.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Torkel (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Torkel has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2006. 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 | – |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2007 | 3 |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | 2 |
| 2010 | – |
| 2011 | 2 |
| 2012 | 2 |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | 2 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 434 |
| 2000 | 436 |
| 2001 | 437 |
| 2002 | 439 |
| 2003 | 446 |
| 2004 | 449 |
| 2005 | 443 |
| 2006 | 445 |
| 2007 | 436 |
| 2008 | 438 |
| 2009 | 434 |
| 2010 | 433 |
| 2011 | 426 |
| 2012 | 425 |
| 2013 | 424 |
| 2014 | 425 |
| 2015 | 424 |
| 2016 | 425 |
| 2017 | 421 |
| 2018 | 416 |
| 2019 | 411 |
| 2020 | 409 |
Torkel in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Torkel.Hi! My name is Torkel.
- Torkel har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Torkel has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Torkels mamma är lärare.Torkel's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Torkels mamma is Torkel's mum.
More names
Questions about Torkel
How do you pronounce Torkel in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Torkel in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Torkel mean?
From Old Norse Þorkell, akin to English Torquil.
How popular is Torkel in Sweden?
2 babies were named Torkel in 2022. In 2020, 409 people in Sweden had Torkel as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2006 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.