Swedish surnames

The 100 most common surnames in Sweden at the end of 2021, how they have changed since 1980, and where they come from.

Why so many end in -son

All sixteen of the most common Swedish surnames end in -son. Together they belonged to 1,698,981 people in 2021. They started as patronymics: a child was named after the father, with -son for a son and -dotter for a daughter. Johan's son Erik was Erik Johansson; Erik's daughter Anna was Anna Eriksdotter. The name changed with every generation, which is how the countryside named people until the late 1800s.

Fixed family names spread during the 1800s, and Sweden's first surname law, in 1901, required everyone to have one. Many families kept the -son name they had at the time, which is why Andersson, Johansson and Karlsson lead the list today.

Nature names and soldier names

The next big group are compounds of nature words: Lindberg (linden + mountain), Lindström (linden + stream), Lindqvist (linden + twig). Endings like -berg, -gren, -qvist and -lund became the hallmark of a Swedish family name. Short names like Sköld (shield) or Svärd (sword) often go back to soldiers, who were given a name of their own in the regiment; many became family names in the 1800s.

Source for the history: the Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof), Efternamn, last checked 7 October 2026.

The 100 most common surnames

SCB merges spelling variants here (Carlsson with Karlsson, for example) and lists the name under its most common spelling.

Most common surnames in Sweden 2021
Rank	Surname	People 2021	Rank 1980	Origin
1	Andersson	221,511	2	Originally a patronymic form Anders + -son "son of Anders". (first name: Anders)
2	Johansson	219,829	1	Originally a patronymic form Johans + -son, literally “son of Johan”. Cognate to English Johnson. (first name: Johan)
3	Karlsson	196,160	3	Originally a patronymic form Karls + -son "son of Karl". (first name: Karl)
4	Nilsson	151,215	4	Originally a patronymic form Nils + -son "son of Nils". (first name: Nils)
5	Eriksson	133,030	5	Originally a patronymic form Eriks + -son "son of Erik". (first name: Erik)
6	Larsson	111,780	6	Originally a patronymic form Lars + -son "son of Lars". (first name: Lars)
7	Olsson	100,429	7	Originally a patronymic form Olas or Olofs + -son.
8	Persson	95,033	8	Originally a patronymic form Pers + -son "son of Per". (first name: Per)
9	Svensson	88,835	9	Originally a patronymic form Svens + -son "son of Sven". (first name: Sven)
10	Gustafsson	87,210	11	Originally a patronymic form Gustafs + -son "son of Gustaf". See Gustavsson for more information about the spelling. (first name: Gustaf)
11	Pettersson	84,520	10	Originally a patronymic from Petters + -son "son of Petter". (first name: Petter)
12	Jonsson	66,598	12	Originally a patronymic form Jons + -son "son of Jon". (first name: Jon)
13	Jansson	44,557	13	Originally a patronymic form Jans + -son "son of Jan". (first name: Jan)
14	Hansson	39,492	14	Originally a patronymic form Hans + -son "son of Hans". (first name: Hans)
15	Bengtsson	30,836	16	Originally a patronymic form Bengts + -son "son of Bengt". (first name: Bengt)
16	Jönsson	27,946	15	Originally a patronymic form Jöns + -son "son of Jöns". (first name: Jöns)
17	Lindberg	26,841	20	From lind (“linden”) + berg (“mountain”).
18	Jakobsson	25,261	19	Originally a patronymic form Jakobs + -son "son of Jakob". (first name: Jakob)
19	Magnusson	24,632	17	Originally a patronymic form Magnus + -son "son of Magnus". (first name: Magnus)
20	Lindström	24,046	21	From lind (“linden”) + ström (“stream”).
21	Olofsson	23,927	18	Originally a patronymic form Olof + -son "son of Olof". (first name: Olof)
22	Lindqvist	22,189	22	From lind (“linden”) + qvist, archaic spelling of kvist (“twig”).
23	Lindgren	21,971	24	From lind (“linden”) + gren (“branch”).
24	Berg	21,406	30	From berg (“mountain”).
25	Axelsson	21,232	23	Originally a patronymic form Axels + -son. (first name: Axel)
26	Bergström	20,450	27	From berg (“mountain”) + ström (“stream”).
27	Lundberg	20,407	26	From lund (“grove”) + berg (“mountain”).
28	Lind	20,269	36	From lind (“linden tree”).
29	Lundgren	19,715	28	From lund (“grove”) + gren (“branch”).
30	Lundqvist	19,385	29	From lund (“grove”) + qvist, archaic spelling of kvist (“twig”).
31	Mattsson	18,590	25	Originally a patronymic form Matts + -son "son of Matts". (first name: Matts)
32	Berglund	18,465	32	From berg (“mountain”) + lund (“grove”).
33	Fredriksson	17,395	31	Originally a patronymic form Fredriks + -son. (first name: Fredrik)
34	Sandberg	17,209	34	From sand (“sand”) + berg (“mountain”).
35	Henriksson	16,607	33	Originally a patronymic form Henriks + -son. (first name: Henrik)
36	Ali	16,454	—
37	Forsberg	16,184	39	From fors (“rapids”) + berg (“mountain”).
38	Mohamed	16,022	—
39	Sjöberg	15,985	38	From sjö (“lake”) + berg (“mountain”).
40	Wallin	15,763	44	A surname, associated with hymn writer and arch bishop Johan Olof Wallin (1779-1839)
41	Engström	15,121	41	From eng, archaic spelling of äng (“meadow”) + ström (“stream”).
42	Eklund	14,871	43	From ek (“oak”) + lund (“grove”).
43	Danielsson	14,619	37	Originally a patronymic form Daniels + -son. (first name: Daniel)
44	Lundin	14,599	45
45	Håkansson	14,154	35	Originally a patronymic form Håkans + -son. (first name: Håkan)
46	Björk	14,054	55	A habitational surname, from björk (“birch”)
47	Bergman	14,001	54	From berg (“mountain”) + man (“man”).
48	Gunnarsson	13,839	63	Originally a patronymic form Gunnars + -son. (first name: Gunnar)
49	Wikström	13,668	52	From vik (“bay”) (archaic spelling wik) + ström (“stream”).
50	Holm	13,658	46	From holm, archaic form of holme (“small island”).
51	Samuelsson	13,454	42	Originally a patronymic form (patronym) from Samuels + -son ("Samuel’s son, son of Samuel"). (first name: Samuel)
52	Isaksson	13,275	51	Originally a patronymic form Isaks + -son "son of Isak". (first name: Isak)
53	Fransson	13,119	40	Originally a patronymic form Frans + -son. (first name: Frans)
54	Bergqvist	13,093	53	From berg (“mountain”) + qvist, archaic spelling of kvist (“twig”).
55	Nyström	12,887	50	From ny (“new”) + ström (“stream”).
56	Holmberg	12,772	49	From holm, archaic form of holme (“small island”) + berg (“mountain”).
57	Arvidsson	12,638	57	Originally a patronymic form Arvids + -son. (first name: Arvid)
58	Löfgren	12,510	60	From löf (elder spelling of löv) + gren.
59	Söderberg	12,298	61	From söder (“south”) + berg (“mountain”).
60	Nyberg	12,220	62	From ny (“new”) + berg (“mountain”).
61	Ahmed	12,129	—
62	Blomqvist	12,108	56	Blomma (“flower”) + qvist, a proscribed spelling of kvist (“twig”).
63	Claesson	11,868	48	A -son name: originally a patronymic. (first name: Claes)
64	Nordström	11,846	59	From nord (“north”) + ström (“stream”).
65	Hassan	11,617	—
66	Mårtensson	11,423	47	Originally a patronymic form Mårtens + -son "son of Mårten". (first name: Mårten)
67	Lundström	11,310	65	From lund (“grove”) + ström (“stream”).
68	Viklund	11,153	69
69	Björklund	11,102	71	By surface analysis, björk + lund.
70	Eliasson	11,061	64	Originally a patronymic form Elias + -son. (first name: Elias)
71	Berggren	10,919	67	From berg (“mountain”) + gren (“branch”).
72	Pålsson	10,851	58	A -son name: originally a patronymic. (first name: Pål)
73	Sandström	10,605	74	From sand (“sand”) + ström (“stream”).
74	Nordin	10,438	72
75	Lund	10,431	78
76	Falk	10,155	—
77	Ström	10,154	66
78	Åberg	10,102	82
79	Ekström	10,033	79	Ek (“oak”) + ström (“stream”)
80	Hermansson	9,980	68	Originally a patronymic form Hermans + -son "son of Herman". (first name: Herman)
81	Holmgren	9,804	77	By surface analysis, holm + gren.
82	Dahlberg	9,719	86	From dahl, archaic spelling of dal (“valley”) + berg (“mountain”).
83	Hellström	9,700	84
84	Hedlund	9,629	81
85	Sundberg	9,539	76	From sund (“sound”) + berg (“mountain”).
86	Sjögren	9,493	83	From sjö (“lake”) + gren (“branch”).
87	Ek	9,433	98	From ek (“oak”).
88	Blom	9,382	88	From blomma (“flower”).
89	Abrahamsson	9,165	80	Originally a patronymic form Abrahams + -son. (first name: Abraham)
90	Öberg	9,138	85	From ö (“island”) + berg (“mountain”).
91	Martinsson	9,113	87	Originally a patronymic form Martins + -son "son of Martin". (first name: Martin)
92	Andreasson	8,873	70	Originally a patronymic form Andreas + -son, "son of Andreas". (first name: Andreas)
93	Strömberg	8,840	91	From ström (“stream”) + berg (“mountain”).
94	Månsson	8,757	73	Originally a patronymic form Måns + -son "son of Måns". (first name: Måns)
95	Hansen	8,622	—
96	Åkesson	8,570	94	Originally a patronymic form Åkes + -son "son of Åke". (first name: Åke)
97	Dahl	8,552	—	From dal (“valley”).
98	Lindholm	8,519	—	From lind (“linden”) + holm, archaic form of holme (“small island”).
99	Norberg	8,439	93
100	Holmqvist	8,431	90

— in the 1980 column: not in that year's top 100.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most common surname in Sweden?

Andersson, carried by 221,511 people at the end of 2021, just ahead of Johansson (219,829) and Karlsson (196,160).

Why do so many Swedish surnames end in -son?

They began as patronymics: a man's son was named after his father, so Anders's son Per was Per Andersson, and his son in turn might be Nils Persson. The name changed every generation until fixed family names took over around 1900; a 1901 law made a hereditary surname compulsory for everyone.

Were there -dotter names for women?

Yes. Daughters were named the same way with -dotter: Anders's daughter Karin was Karin Andersdotter. When surnames became fixed, families kept the -son form, so today a woman can be called Andersson.

Where do names like Lindberg and Lindström come from?

They are compounds of nature words, a typical Swedish way of making a family name: lind (linden tree), berg (mountain), ström (stream), qvist or kvist (twig), lund (grove), gren (branch).

Figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), the 100 most common surnames among people registered on 31 December, 1980–2021, open data under CC0. Origins of individual names: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org. History of Swedish surnames: Isof. Lingolib is not affiliated with any of them. Last checked 7 October 2026.