{"id":4790,"date":"2016-02-24T20:51:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T18:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hejsweden.com\/en\/?p=4790"},"modified":"2026-09-16T15:58:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:58:01","slug":"swedish-surnames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hejsweden.com\/en\/swedish-surnames\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 100 Most Common Swedish Surnames: -son, -quist, -str\u00f6m & Co. 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Most<\/a>
Most Common Surnames in Sweden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One third of all Swedish surnames<\/strong> end with –son<\/em><\/strong>. Svensson<\/em>, Johansson<\/em>, Gustavsson<\/em> belong to the most common last names in Sweden.\u00a0(Source:\u00a0ISOF Institutet f\u00f6r spr\u00e5k och folkminnnen<\/a>.) Those names are so common, that you can expect to find\u00a0at least one of them on a door in each Swedish apartment building. If not there, then at least on\u00a0one of the mailboxes of the houses\u00a0next door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, the most common Swedish last names that do not end with -son, are Lindberg<\/em>, Lindstr\u00f6m<\/em> and Lindgren<\/em>. What those names mean, and the reason why so many Swedish last names end with -son, read further below.<\/strong> Including a video with the correct Swedish pronunciation of the top 10 last names in Sweden<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swedish names lists and statistics overview<\/a>
Old Swedish names<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of 100 Most Common Swedish Surnames<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0100 most popular\u00a0surnames in Sweden\u00a0according to ISOF<\/a> and SCB (in 2026). Here are the Smiths<\/em>, Johnsons<\/em>, Williams<\/em> and Jones<\/em> of Sweden.<\/p>

\"Book<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Name variations, such as\u00a0Karlsson<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Carlsson<\/em>\u00a0combined under the more common variation, here Karlsson<\/em> is more common than Carlsson<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rank<\/th>Lastname<\/th>Count<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n
1<\/td>Andersson<\/td>211 808<\/td><\/tr>\n
2<\/td>Johansson<\/td>209 813<\/td><\/tr>\n
3<\/td>Karlsson<\/td>186 052<\/td><\/tr>\n
4<\/td>Nilsson<\/td>145 963<\/td><\/tr>\n
5<\/td>Eriksson<\/td>118 182<\/td><\/tr>\n
6<\/td>Larsson<\/td>108 423<\/td><\/tr>\n
7<\/td>Olsson<\/td>90 673<\/td><\/tr>\n
8<\/td>Persson<\/td>90 597<\/td><\/tr>\n
9<\/td>Svensson<\/td>84 407<\/td><\/tr>\n
10<\/td>Gustafsson<\/td>83 349<\/td><\/tr>\n
11<\/td>Pettersson<\/td>79 450<\/td><\/tr>\n
12<\/td>Jonsson<\/td>49 155<\/td><\/tr>\n
13<\/td>Jansson<\/td>42 057<\/td><\/tr>\n
14<\/td>Hansson<\/td>37 991<\/td><\/tr>\n
15<\/td>Bengtsson<\/td>29 535<\/td><\/tr>\n
16<\/td>Lindberg<\/td>27 178<\/td><\/tr>\n
17<\/td>J\u00f6nsson<\/td>26 700<\/td><\/tr>\n
18<\/td>Magnusson<\/td>24 383<\/td><\/tr>\n
19<\/td>Lindstr\u00f6m<\/td>24 263<\/td><\/tr>\n
20<\/td>Lindgren<\/td>22 267<\/td><\/tr>\n
21<\/td>Olofsson<\/td>21 931<\/td><\/tr>\n
22<\/td>Axelsson<\/td>20 722<\/td><\/tr>\n
23<\/td>Bergstr\u00f6m<\/td>20 684<\/td><\/tr>\n
24<\/td>Lundberg<\/td>20 581<\/td><\/tr>\n
25<\/td>Berg<\/td>20 445<\/td><\/tr>\n
26<\/td>Lundgren<\/td>19 886<\/td><\/tr>\n
27<\/td>Berglund<\/td>18 583<\/td><\/tr>\n
28<\/td>Jakobsson<\/td>18 400<\/td><\/tr>\n
29<\/td>Sandberg<\/td>17 652<\/td><\/tr>\n
30<\/td>Ali<\/td>17 534<\/td><\/tr>\n
31<\/td>Fredriksson<\/td>16 590<\/td><\/tr>\n
32<\/td>Mattsson<\/td>16 483<\/td><\/tr>\n
33<\/td>Forsberg<\/td>16 310<\/td><\/tr>\n
34<\/td>Lind<\/td>16 299<\/td><\/tr>\n
35<\/td>Sj\u00f6berg<\/td>16 216<\/td><\/tr>\n
36<\/td>Lindqvist<\/td>15 640<\/td><\/tr>\n
37<\/td>Henriksson<\/td>15 571<\/td><\/tr>\n
38<\/td>Engstr\u00f6m<\/td>15 492<\/td><\/tr>\n
39<\/td>Eklund<\/td>15 089<\/td><\/tr>\n
40<\/td>Lundin<\/td>15 039<\/td><\/tr>\n
41<\/td>Holm<\/td>14 393<\/td><\/tr>\n
42<\/td>Bergman<\/td>14 205<\/td><\/tr>\n
43<\/td>Danielsson<\/td>14 171<\/td><\/tr>\n
44<\/td>Wallin<\/td>13 821<\/td><\/tr>\n
45<\/td>H\u00e5kansson<\/td>13 669<\/td><\/tr>\n
46<\/td>Bj\u00f6rk<\/td>13 369<\/td><\/tr>\n
47<\/td>Gunnarsson<\/td>13 361<\/td><\/tr>\n
48<\/td>Samuelsson<\/td>13 087<\/td><\/tr>\n
49<\/td>Nystr\u00f6m<\/td>12 978<\/td><\/tr>\n
50<\/td>Holmberg<\/td>12 890<\/td><\/tr>\n
51<\/td>Lundqvist<\/td>12 867<\/td><\/tr>\n
52<\/td>Ahmed<\/td>12 755<\/td><\/tr>\n
53<\/td>Fransson<\/td>12 619<\/td><\/tr>\n
54<\/td>S\u00f6derberg<\/td>12 435<\/td><\/tr>\n
55<\/td>Nyberg<\/td>12 431<\/td><\/tr>\n
56<\/td>Arvidsson<\/td>12 144<\/td><\/tr>\n
57<\/td>Johnsson<\/td>12 131<\/td><\/tr>\n
58<\/td>Isaksson<\/td>12 023<\/td><\/tr>\n
59<\/td>Nordstr\u00f6m<\/td>11 997<\/td><\/tr>\n
60<\/td>Lundstr\u00f6m<\/td>11 354<\/td><\/tr>\n
61<\/td>Bj\u00f6rklund<\/td>11 248<\/td><\/tr>\n
62<\/td>M\u00e5rtensson<\/td>11 084<\/td><\/tr>\n
63<\/td>Berggren<\/td>11 026<\/td><\/tr>\n
64<\/td>Eliasson<\/td>10 987<\/td><\/tr>\n
65<\/td>Nordin<\/td>10 809<\/td><\/tr>\n
66<\/td>Sandstr\u00f6m<\/td>10 799<\/td><\/tr>\n
67<\/td>Mohamed<\/td>10 596<\/td><\/tr>\n
68<\/td>Str\u00f6m<\/td>10 269<\/td><\/tr>\n
69<\/td>Ekstr\u00f6m<\/td>10 262<\/td><\/tr>\n
70<\/td>\u00c5berg<\/td>10 219<\/td><\/tr>\n
71<\/td>Holmgren<\/td>9 913<\/td><\/tr>\n
72<\/td>Hermansson<\/td>9 852<\/td><\/tr>\n
73<\/td>Hedlund<\/td>9 754<\/td><\/tr>\n
74<\/td>Falk<\/td>9 619<\/td><\/tr>\n
75<\/td>Sj\u00f6gren<\/td>9 568<\/td><\/tr>\n
76<\/td>Dahlberg<\/td>9 543<\/td><\/tr>\n
77<\/td>Sundberg<\/td>9 495<\/td><\/tr>\n
78<\/td>Ek<\/td>9 435<\/td><\/tr>\n
79<\/td>Blom<\/td>9 204<\/td><\/tr>\n
80<\/td>Hellstr\u00f6m<\/td>9 155<\/td><\/tr>\n
81<\/td>\u00d6berg<\/td>9 103<\/td><\/tr>\n
82<\/td>Str\u00f6mberg<\/td>8 965<\/td><\/tr>\n
83<\/td>Martinsson<\/td>8 886<\/td><\/tr>\n
84<\/td>Lindholm<\/td>8 826<\/td><\/tr>\n
85<\/td>Ibrahim<\/td>8 812<\/td><\/tr>\n
86<\/td>Dahl<\/td>8 807<\/td><\/tr>\n
87<\/td>Blomqvist<\/td>8 732<\/td><\/tr>\n
88<\/td>M\u00e5nsson<\/td>8 682<\/td><\/tr>\n
89<\/td>Hassan<\/td>8 634<\/td><\/tr>\n
90<\/td>L\u00f6fgren<\/td>8 624<\/td><\/tr>\n
91<\/td>Jensen<\/td>8 570<\/td><\/tr>\n
92<\/td>Abrahamsson<\/td>8 484<\/td><\/tr>\n
93<\/td>Norberg<\/td>8 477<\/td><\/tr>\n
94<\/td>\u00c5str\u00f6m<\/td>8 393<\/td><\/tr>\n
95<\/td>Sundstr\u00f6m<\/td>8 347<\/td><\/tr>\n
96<\/td>Nyman<\/td>8 257<\/td><\/tr>\n
97<\/td>S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m<\/td>8 248<\/td><\/tr>\n
98<\/td>\u00c5kesson<\/td>8 244<\/td><\/tr>\n
99<\/td>Palm<\/td>8 202<\/td><\/tr>\n
100<\/td>Hansen<\/td>8 193<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n

Why So Many Swedish Surnames End with “-son”<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Until 1901, it was very common that a patronymic<\/a> was used when people received their last names. This means that the first name of the father is the base for the creation of a person’s last name. For example, was your father’s first name Anders<\/em>, your last name would consequently be Andersson<\/em><\/strong>, “Ander’s son<\/strong>“. This was the case even if your father’s surname<\/strong> was totally different, like Pettersson<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1901, a new law prohibited this procedure. And since 1982 it is allowed (again) to use a patronymic or matronymic, meaning you can use your mother’s first name as your last name nowadays. This is not uncommon in Iceland. E.g. …d\u00f3ttir, d\u00f3ttir<\/em> meaning “doughter”. But still not very common in Sweden though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Typical Swedish Surnames<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The following words appear often in Swedish names and refer mostly to nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Str\u00f6m – stream (river)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Berg – mountain\/hill<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Lind – linden<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ek – oak<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sj\u00f6 – lake\/sea<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sund – sea gate\/strait<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • \u00c5 – small stream\/creek<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • \u00d6 – island<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Bj\u00f6rk – birch<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ny – new<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • S\u00f6der – south<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Lund – small forrest<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Gren – branch<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fors – cataract<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Vik – bay<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Holm – little island<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Qvist\/Kvist –\u00a0twig<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Swedes have a special relationship to nature. Maybe that is the reason why so many Swedish names are related to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Swedish Pronunciation of the Top 10 Last Names in Sweden <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n