Wilhelm
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, the spelling origin of Vilhelm.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Wilhelm (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Wilhelm has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2011. 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 | 64 |
| 1999 | 79 |
| 2000 | 80 |
| 2001 | 68 |
| 2002 | 90 |
| 2003 | 90 |
| 2004 | 130 |
| 2005 | 116 |
| 2006 | 113 |
| 2007 | 128 |
| 2008 | 125 |
| 2009 | 141 |
| 2010 | 124 |
| 2011 | 146 |
| 2012 | 136 |
| 2013 | 110 |
| 2014 | 127 |
| 2015 | 115 |
| 2016 | 138 |
| 2017 | 127 |
| 2018 | 135 |
| 2019 | 129 |
| 2020 | 93 |
| 2021 | 107 |
| 2022 | 103 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,202 |
| 2000 | 1,272 |
| 2001 | 1,336 |
| 2002 | 1,423 |
| 2003 | 1,514 |
| 2004 | 1,637 |
| 2005 | 1,740 |
| 2006 | 1,844 |
| 2007 | 1,967 |
| 2008 | 2,102 |
| 2009 | 2,231 |
| 2010 | 2,352 |
| 2011 | 2,479 |
| 2012 | 2,613 |
| 2013 | 2,720 |
| 2014 | 2,831 |
| 2015 | 2,938 |
| 2016 | 3,077 |
| 2017 | 3,196 |
| 2018 | 3,335 |
| 2019 | 3,439 |
| 2020 | 3,530 |
Wilhelm in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Wilhelm.Hi! My name is Wilhelm.
- Wilhelm bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Wilhelm lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Vet du om Wilhelm kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Wilhelm is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Wilhelms mamma är lärare.Wilhelm's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Wilhelms mamma is Wilhelm's mum.
More names
Questions about Wilhelm
How do you pronounce Wilhelm in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Wilhelm from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Wilhelm mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, the spelling origin of Vilhelm.
How popular is Wilhelm in Sweden?
103 babies were named Wilhelm in 2022. In 2020, 3,530 people in Sweden had Wilhelm as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2011 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.