Van
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given name Vanessa. Shortening.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Van (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 40 | 715 |
| 2000 | 40 | 709 |
| 2001 | 42 | 715 |
| 2002 | 42 | 716 |
| 2003 | 46 | 706 |
| 2004 | 51 | 708 |
| 2005 | 55 | 708 |
| 2006 | 64 | 714 |
| 2007 | 66 | 733 |
| 2008 | 66 | 738 |
| 2009 | 70 | 763 |
| 2010 | 68 | 790 |
| 2011 | 72 | 832 |
| 2012 | 72 | 871 |
| 2013 | 68 | 908 |
| 2014 | 69 | 943 |
| 2015 | 70 | 988 |
| 2016 | 71 | 1,034 |
| 2017 | 71 | 1,097 |
| 2018 | 70 | 1,155 |
| 2019 | 71 | 1,203 |
| 2020 | 72 | 1,221 |
Van in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Van.Hi! My name is Van.
- Van har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Van has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Van kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Van is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Vans mamma är lärare.Van's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Vans mamma is Van's mum.
More names
Questions about Van
How do you pronounce Van in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Van in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Van mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given name Vanessa. Shortening.
How popular is Van in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Van in 2022. In 2020, 1,293 people in Sweden had Van as the first name they go by.
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.