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ArchivesAttn Chrisell: Swedish name statistics
Statistics Sweden (SCB, Statistiska Centralbyrån = The Central Bureau of Statistics) publishes some statistics on names in Sweden at http://www.scb.se/templates/Product____30895.asp
It's in Swedish, but here's a small glossary/explanation:
Efterfrågade tabeller och diagram = requested tables and diagrams
nyfödda = newborn
flicknamn = girls' names
pojknamn = boys' names
The yearly stats tables' header says "The table shows the 100 most common used first names given to boys/girls in YYYY. The names are displayed with the most common spelling, but all spellings are included in the count."
namn = name
antal bärare = number of carriers
Förändringar = changes (these are table showing trends)
Alfabetisk översikt = alphabetical overview
Header of the overview: "The table shows in alphabetical order all used first names given to more than ten boys/girls under any of the years 1998-2007. Every spelling is shown as a name of its own. - = fewer than 10."
Topp 100 listor, Hela befolkningen = Top 100 lists, whole population
därav som tilltalsnamn = of which as used first name
andel tilltalsnamn (procent) = fraction used first name (per cent)
A little note: A Swedish name is stipulated by law to consist of one or more first names, an optional (and rare) middle name (in the Danish sense, so it could e.g. be the name of a farm), and a surname. This is contrary to how the term "middle name" is commonly used even in Swedish, but part of the reason for the confusion could be that it's common to go by a different first name than the first by order. That is, someone named "Sven Gunnar Nilsson" might go by "Gunnar", and this would be known by the authorities and reflected in the statistics (as the "used first name" above).
It's in Swedish, but here's a small glossary/explanation:
Efterfrågade tabeller och diagram = requested tables and diagrams
nyfödda = newborn
flicknamn = girls' names
pojknamn = boys' names
The yearly stats tables' header says "The table shows the 100 most common used first names given to boys/girls in YYYY. The names are displayed with the most common spelling, but all spellings are included in the count."
namn = name
antal bärare = number of carriers
Förändringar = changes (these are table showing trends)
Alfabetisk översikt = alphabetical overview
Header of the overview: "The table shows in alphabetical order all used first names given to more than ten boys/girls under any of the years 1998-2007. Every spelling is shown as a name of its own. - = fewer than 10."
Topp 100 listor, Hela befolkningen = Top 100 lists, whole population
därav som tilltalsnamn = of which as used first name
andel tilltalsnamn (procent) = fraction used first name (per cent)
A little note: A Swedish name is stipulated by law to consist of one or more first names, an optional (and rare) middle name (in the Danish sense, so it could e.g. be the name of a farm), and a surname. This is contrary to how the term "middle name" is commonly used even in Swedish, but part of the reason for the confusion could be that it's common to go by a different first name than the first by order. That is, someone named "Sven Gunnar Nilsson" might go by "Gunnar", and this would be known by the authorities and reflected in the statistics (as the "used first name" above).
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Replies
I guess I'm amazed that it is "known by the authorities" when someone is "going by" the second rather than the first name on their birth certificate. How would "the authorities" know such information?
It certainly makes for a somewhat more accurate list in terms of what names are actually being heard in the culture. I have often thought that boys' name lists for English speaking countries would look less "conservative" if we could know which boys had a first name from their father or grandfather but were really being called by a middle name. My nephew-in-law, for instance, is named Thomas Brian but has always been addressed as "Brian". For an American his age (30), Brian is actually the newly fashionable name, but in official records he looks like a more conservative "Thomas". But we normally have no way in the USA to discover such cases in the general government data. :)
It certainly makes for a somewhat more accurate list in terms of what names are actually being heard in the culture. I have often thought that boys' name lists for English speaking countries would look less "conservative" if we could know which boys had a first name from their father or grandfather but were really being called by a middle name. My nephew-in-law, for instance, is named Thomas Brian but has always been addressed as "Brian". For an American his age (30), Brian is actually the newly fashionable name, but in official records he looks like a more conservative "Thomas". But we normally have no way in the USA to discover such cases in the general government data. :)
This message was edited 10/26/2008, 3:53 PM
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In Germany, the "calling name" is underlined on the birth certificate. For example, up until a few years ago I had no idea that my mother's first name was Herta, which I had believed to be her middle name! She goes by her "middle name" Martina - and has been called that since the day of her birth!
Additional tidbit of information that I also only found out a few moths ago: the official lists of most popular German baby names are compiled of both first and middle names. No wonder Marie/Maria is always so high up there!
Additional tidbit of information that I also only found out a few moths ago: the official lists of most popular German baby names are compiled of both first and middle names. No wonder Marie/Maria is always so high up there!
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Possible theory
In the Netherlands, I know that for instance in the Netherlands you can give your children doopnamen "baptism names" (official FN + MN(s)) and a "calling name" roepnaam (I think that would roughly be nn is English).
Having worked in the itnernational office of my school, I know my school registers students with "official names" and "calling name", so it's pretty easy to see who goes by their MN and who goes by their FN or something else completely.
I believe you can register this when the baby is born. My brother is for example Constantijn Wilhelmus Petrus "Stijn" and I was supposed to be Maria Johanna Catharina "Marjolijn", but something got mixed up with the baptism and calling name and I ended up with Marjolijn Maria Johanna Catharina on my birth certificate. (my parents are still debating wether this was my dad's or the clerk's fault :P)
Not sure if it's the same thing in Sweden, but at least it would explain it.
In the Netherlands, I know that for instance in the Netherlands you can give your children doopnamen "baptism names" (official FN + MN(s)) and a "calling name" roepnaam (I think that would roughly be nn is English).
Having worked in the itnernational office of my school, I know my school registers students with "official names" and "calling name", so it's pretty easy to see who goes by their MN and who goes by their FN or something else completely.
I believe you can register this when the baby is born. My brother is for example Constantijn Wilhelmus Petrus "Stijn" and I was supposed to be Maria Johanna Catharina "Marjolijn", but something got mixed up with the baptism and calling name and I ended up with Marjolijn Maria Johanna Catharina on my birth certificate. (my parents are still debating wether this was my dad's or the clerk's fault :P)
Not sure if it's the same thing in Sweden, but at least it would explain it.
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It's pretty close to that in Sweden, except that the name that you're called is not separate from the other names. The way it works is that when the name of a baby is registered (which has to be done within 4 months of birth IIRC) you mark which name is the one you'll be using. There's nothing to stop you from actually calling the child by a different name, but the name you mark is the one that will be used on papers sent to you (unless the full name is printed).
There isn't such a thing as a birth certificate in Sweden, as we became aware when moving abroad with a small child. The population register (now kept by the Tax Agency) has collected information for about four centuries (though there are big gaps until the 1700s, Wikipedia tells me), and anyone who needs to know something about you would get the information from them. I found a nice brochure (in English) about the population register at http://www.skatteverket.se/download/18.5cbdbba811c9a768f0c80002830/717b04.pdf . But anyway, if you order a report about yourself from the population register, one of the "first names" will be underlined. I know someone who changed which name she goes by, but I don't know whether she actually had her official record updated to reflect it. I can imagine that you'd also have to contact your bank and such, though at least my bank picked up on my wife's surname change automatically when we got married.
There isn't such a thing as a birth certificate in Sweden, as we became aware when moving abroad with a small child. The population register (now kept by the Tax Agency) has collected information for about four centuries (though there are big gaps until the 1700s, Wikipedia tells me), and anyone who needs to know something about you would get the information from them. I found a nice brochure (in English) about the population register at http://www.skatteverket.se/download/18.5cbdbba811c9a768f0c80002830/717b04.pdf . But anyway, if you order a report about yourself from the population register, one of the "first names" will be underlined. I know someone who changed which name she goes by, but I don't know whether she actually had her official record updated to reflect it. I can imagine that you'd also have to contact your bank and such, though at least my bank picked up on my wife's surname change automatically when we got married.
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Umm . . . why is this addressed to me?
It looks like a great resource, mind you. I'm just not sure why it's addressed to me!
It looks like a great resource, mind you. I'm just not sure why it's addressed to me!
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If I recalled correctly, you were the one asking for such info at some point last year. At least that was my impression after I searched the messageboard for "Sweden". Then again, I had had some gin...
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*Thinks*
Yes, I think I did ask for name lists sometime last year, I'd forgotten. But we already have Sweden's top name lists so it was actually other countries I was asking for!
Yes, I think I did ask for name lists sometime last year, I'd forgotten. But we already have Sweden's top name lists so it was actually other countries I was asking for!
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