Ulf
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, revived in the twentieth century. From Old Norse Úlfr, from úlfr (“wolf”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ulf (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ulf has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. 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 | – |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2008 | 4 |
| 2009 | 3 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | 4 |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 5 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 39,208 |
| 2000 | 38,686 |
| 2001 | 38,232 |
| 2002 | 37,812 |
| 2003 | 37,392 |
| 2004 | 37,010 |
| 2005 | 36,623 |
| 2006 | 36,234 |
| 2007 | 36,014 |
| 2008 | 35,776 |
| 2009 | 35,554 |
| 2010 | 35,291 |
| 2011 | 35,011 |
| 2012 | 34,724 |
| 2013 | 34,381 |
| 2014 | 34,072 |
| 2015 | 33,680 |
| 2016 | 33,319 |
| 2017 | 32,951 |
| 2018 | 32,544 |
| 2019 | 32,074 |
| 2020 | 31,585 |
Ulf in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ulf.Hi! My name is Ulf.
- Ulf har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ulf has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Ulf i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Ulf this afternoon.
- Ulfs mamma är lärare.Ulf's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ulfs mamma is Ulf's mum.
More names
Questions about Ulf
How do you pronounce Ulf in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ulf from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Ulf mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, revived in the twentieth century. From Old Norse Úlfr, from úlfr (“wolf”).
How popular is Ulf in Sweden?
5 babies were named Ulf in 2022. In 2020, 31,585 people in Sweden had Ulf as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2021 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.