Sven
Sven was given to 31 boys in 2025, #3,644 among boys’ names; 2,517 Americans have been recorded with it since 1911 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,090 Americans named Sven and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 29 years old and half are between 12 and 51.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Sven by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Sven mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Sven is “a male given name from Swedish.”
Borrowed from Swedish Sven.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Sven?
#3,644 among boys’ names, 2025
Sven fell from #2,292 in 2015 to #3,644 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 30.3 to 18.1 per million.
58 babies in 2015, the peak
Sven peaked in 2015, when 58 boys were given it, #2,292 among boys’ names. The 31 births of 2025 are 53% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 31 | #3,644 | 18.1 |
| 2024 | 51 | #2,630 | 29.6 |
| 2023 | 53 | #2,534 | 31.0 |
| 2022 | 51 | #2,641 | 29.2 |
| 2021 | 44 | #2,853 | 25.2 |
| 2020 | 53 | #2,461 | 30.7 |
| 2019 | 53 | #2,519 | 29.5 |
| 2018 | 52 | #2,500 | 28.6 |
| 2017 | 37 | #3,186 | 20.0 |
| 2016 | 36 | #3,215 | 19.0 |
Every recorded year (110)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 58 | #2,292 | 30.3 |
| 2014 | 56 | #2,339 | 29.2 |
| 2013 | 33 | #3,325 | 17.4 |
| 2012 | 34 | #3,288 | 17.9 |
| 2011 | 24 | #4,199 | 12.6 |
| 2010 | 35 | #3,229 | 18.2 |
| 2009 | 28 | #3,812 | 14.1 |
| 2008 | 33 | #3,410 | 16.2 |
| 2007 | 25 | #4,104 | 12.0 |
| 2006 | 31 | #3,441 | 15.1 |
| 2005 | 18 | #4,792 | 9.0 |
| 2004 | 35 | #2,942 | 17.6 |
| 2003 | 20 | #4,253 | 10.1 |
| 2002 | 27 | #3,330 | 13.9 |
| 2001 | 26 | #3,392 | 13.4 |
| 2000 | 29 | #3,057 | 14.8 |
| 1999 | 31 | #2,779 | 16.1 |
| 1998 | 36 | #2,439 | 18.8 |
| 1997 | 31 | #2,601 | 16.4 |
| 1996 | 18 | #3,801 | 9.5 |
| 1995 | 22 | #3,172 | 11.6 |
| 1994 | 27 | #2,746 | 14.0 |
| 1993 | 26 | #2,765 | 13.3 |
| 1992 | 25 | #2,807 | 12.5 |
| 1991 | 23 | #2,898 | 11.4 |
| 1990 | 22 | #2,940 | 10.7 |
| 1989 | 29 | #2,339 | 14.5 |
| 1988 | 29 | #2,184 | 15.1 |
| 1987 | 25 | #2,322 | 13.4 |
| 1986 | 31 | #1,955 | 16.8 |
| 1985 | 18 | #2,812 | 9.7 |
| 1984 | 20 | #2,518 | 11.1 |
| 1983 | 24 | #2,200 | 13.4 |
| 1982 | 32 | #1,810 | 17.6 |
| 1981 | 21 | #2,408 | 11.7 |
| 1980 | 25 | #2,157 | 14.0 |
| 1979 | 31 | #1,829 | 18.0 |
| 1978 | 23 | #2,121 | 14.0 |
| 1977 | 35 | #1,605 | 21.3 |
| 1976 | 21 | #2,232 | 13.4 |
| 1975 | 24 | #1,994 | 15.4 |
| 1974 | 26 | #1,825 | 16.5 |
| 1973 | 26 | #1,775 | 16.7 |
| 1972 | 25 | #1,814 | 15.4 |
| 1971 | 39 | #1,375 | 22.1 |
| 1970 | 43 | #1,276 | 23.1 |
| 1969 | 39 | #1,277 | 21.8 |
| 1968 | 30 | #1,451 | 17.3 |
| 1967 | 45 | #1,113 | 25.8 |
| 1966 | 23 | #1,645 | 12.9 |
| 1965 | 32 | #1,378 | 17.2 |
| 1964 | 27 | #1,538 | 13.5 |
| 1963 | 23 | #1,688 | 11.3 |
| 1962 | 31 | #1,417 | 15.0 |
| 1961 | 19 | #1,940 | 8.9 |
| 1960 | 28 | #1,545 | 13.1 |
| 1959 | 23 | #1,701 | 10.8 |
| 1958 | 17 | #2,014 | 8.0 |
| 1957 | 21 | #1,783 | 9.7 |
| 1956 | 9 | #2,941 | 4.3 |
| 1955 | 14 | #2,211 | 6.8 |
| 1954 | 17 | #1,949 | 8.3 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,172 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | 10 | #2,660 | 5.1 |
| 1951 | 8 | #3,038 | 4.2 |
| 1950 | 10 | #2,559 | 5.6 |
| 1949 | 7 | #3,267 | 3.9 |
| 1948 | 5 | #4,129 | 2.8 |
| 1947 | 7 | #3,338 | 3.8 |
| 1946 | 5 | #3,962 | 3.1 |
| 1945 | 7 | #2,968 | 5.2 |
| 1944 | 6 | #3,394 | 4.4 |
| 1943 | 11 | #2,390 | 7.7 |
| 1942 | 5 | #3,986 | 3.6 |
| 1941 | 5 | #3,949 | 4.1 |
| 1940 | 5 | #3,885 | 4.3 |
| 1939 | 8 | #2,802 | 7.2 |
| 1937 | 10 | #2,462 | 9.4 |
| 1936 | 7 | #3,118 | 6.7 |
| 1935 | 10 | #2,512 | 9.6 |
| 1934 | 12 | #2,246 | 11.6 |
| 1933 | 12 | #2,198 | 12.1 |
| 1932 | 6 | #3,730 | 5.7 |
| 1931 | 5 | #4,262 | 4.8 |
| 1930 | 15 | #2,066 | 13.7 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,307 | 12.1 |
| 1928 | 15 | #2,146 | 13.5 |
| 1927 | 8 | #3,416 | 7.1 |
| 1926 | 8 | #3,348 | 7.2 |
| 1925 | 5 | #4,797 | 4.5 |
| 1924 | 10 | #3,004 | 8.8 |
| 1923 | 7 | #3,775 | 6.4 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,499 | 7.4 |
| 1921 | 7 | #3,827 | 6.4 |
| 1918 | 9 | #3,076 | 8.9 |
| 1917 | 13 | #2,271 | 14.0 |
| 1916 | 15 | #2,032 | 16.9 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,436 | 13.0 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,853 | 19.9 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,714 | 26.6 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Sven a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Sven has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 110 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Sven: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Sven, and how old are they?
2,090 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 2,517 Americans ever recorded as Sven. The median Sven alive today is 29 years old; half are between 12 and 51.
The 2020 Census counted 2,970 people named Sven (14 women and girls, 2,956 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,896 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 25 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 208 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 428 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 372 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 455 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 604 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Sven born?
The states with the most babies named Sven are California, New York and Minnesota, with 82% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Minnesota is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 236 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| New York | 68 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Minnesota | 21 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Washington | 18 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Illinois | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Massachusetts | 10 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Ohio | 7 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Texas | 7 | not ranked | 0.0× |
| Connecticut | 5 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Florida | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Sven with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 8,597 babies since 1880, Sven is the second most given (29% of them). In 2025 it was given to 31 of their 362 babies (8.6%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Sven
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Sven and names like it
- Compare Sven and SevenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sSven peaked in 2015.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Sven since 1910.
- Swedish namesWiktionary’s origin for Sven: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2015The year the most babies were named Sven.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Sven alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with SMost given first.