Vilhelm
Meaning and origin
Of Germanic origin, cognate with German Wilhelm and English William. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in the 12th century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Vilhelm (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Vilhelm has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2012. 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 | 45 |
| 1999 | 47 |
| 2000 | 38 |
| 2001 | 48 |
| 2002 | 43 |
| 2003 | 63 |
| 2004 | 62 |
| 2005 | 71 |
| 2006 | 82 |
| 2007 | 57 |
| 2008 | 72 |
| 2009 | 76 |
| 2010 | 86 |
| 2011 | 76 |
| 2012 | 102 |
| 2013 | 94 |
| 2014 | 75 |
| 2015 | 101 |
| 2016 | 83 |
| 2017 | 95 |
| 2018 | 93 |
| 2019 | 84 |
| 2020 | 81 |
| 2021 | 74 |
| 2022 | 61 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,132 |
| 2000 | 1,139 |
| 2001 | 1,155 |
| 2002 | 1,158 |
| 2003 | 1,185 |
| 2004 | 1,218 |
| 2005 | 1,261 |
| 2006 | 1,313 |
| 2007 | 1,344 |
| 2008 | 1,397 |
| 2009 | 1,439 |
| 2010 | 1,499 |
| 2011 | 1,553 |
| 2012 | 1,637 |
| 2013 | 1,711 |
| 2014 | 1,780 |
| 2015 | 1,862 |
| 2016 | 1,929 |
| 2017 | 2,018 |
| 2018 | 2,091 |
| 2019 | 2,159 |
| 2020 | 2,224 |
Vilhelm in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Vilhelm.Hi! My name is Vilhelm.
- Vilhelm har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Vilhelm has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Vilhelm i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Vilhelm this afternoon.
- Vilhelms mamma är lärare.Vilhelm's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Vilhelms mamma is Vilhelm's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Vilhelm
How do you pronounce Vilhelm in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Vilhelm from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Vilhelm mean?
Of Germanic origin, cognate with German Wilhelm and English William. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in the 12th century.
How popular is Vilhelm in Sweden?
61 babies were named Vilhelm in 2022. In 2020, 2,224 people in Sweden had Vilhelm as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2012 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.