Given name & surname

Ylva

“she-wolf”

Ylva is used as a given name and a surname. One Norwegian interpretation is “she-wolf.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Norwegian interpretation is “she-wolf.”

Where it comes from

Ylva comes from Old Swedish.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

In Swedish usage, Ylva is a feminine form of Ulf. In Swedish usage, Ylva is a feminine form of Ulfr.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2017. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Ylva through the years

Babies since 1880
35
0 boys · 35 girls
Most popular year
2017
7 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
02462025Highest share 20170.0
Ylva in U.S. Social Security birth records, 2017–2025, per million girls born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 7 in 2017.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Ylva’s family of names

In Swedish usage, Ylva is a feminine form of Ulf. In Greek usage, Ylva as a surname is a transliteration of Ύλβα. In Swedish usage, Ylva shares a linguistic root with Ulf.

Walk Ylva’s family in the name graph

YlvaΎλβαUlf

Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 2

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Similar names

If you love Ylva, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Latin · Modern

Yrsa

“she-bear”

11Very rare

>99% girls

Germanic · Modern

Eveliina

Eveliina is a feminine given name, possibly from Swedish, ultimately from Germanic. It is used in Finnish.

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Russian · Modern

Ronja

Ronja is a feminine given name from Swedish, ultimately from Russian. It is used in English, German, Swedish, Finnish, and 2 other languages.

0Not recently recordedCooling

>99% girls

Swedish · Modern

Oslin

Oslin is a surname from Swedish.

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Swedish · Modern

Kaarina

Kaarina is a feminine given name, probably from Swedish. It is used in Finnish.

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Swedish · Modern

Miia

Miia is a feminine given name, probably from Swedish. It is used in Finnish and Estonian.

14Very rareEasing

>99% girls

Swedish · Modern

Kaari

Kaari is a surname from Old Swedish. It is used in Finnish.

23RareRising

>99% girls

Swedish · Modern

Lundin

Lundin is a surname from Swedish. It is used in English and Swedish.

0Not recently recorded

13% boys · 87% girls

Sibling ideas

Names that share Ylva’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Ylva

A sister for Ylva