Bjorn
- Pronunciation
- [Bjorn]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Pronounced
- Origin
- German
About the Name Bjorn
Bjorn is a strong, evocative Scandinavian name meaning "bear," from the Old Norse björn. Long borne across Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, it carries connotations of strength, courage, and rugged northern heritage. In English-speaking countries the accentless spelling Bjorn has become the standard, retaining the bold, single-syllable punch of the original and tapping into the broad modern enthusiasm for Viking-flavored and nature-rooted names.
In the United States the name has found a modern foothold. Bjorn first entered the Social Security top-1000 in 2017, peaked in 2021 at rank #766, and remained on the list in 2024 at #767, with 330 boys given the name that year. Across its run it has been given to roughly 2,317 boys who reached the top-1000, a small but steady showing that reflects the rising appetite for distinctly Nordic choices among American parents over the past decade.
The appeal of Bjorn lies in its vivid, primal meaning and its blend of toughness and worldliness, fitting neatly among the wave of Scandinavian names like Soren, Lars, and Magnus now gaining ground. It is a name that feels both ancient and adventurous, with a clean, memorable sound and an unmistakable sense of strength. For families wanting something bold, masculine, and a touch wild, Bjorn is hard to beat.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Bjorn
US Popularity History (2017–2025)
Annual US births named Bjorn by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2024 with 330 boys named Bjorn (boy rank #767 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #829 for boys (298 US births). That's 62 places below its 2024 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Bjorn Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Bjorn the strongest states are Alaska, Montana, North Dakota.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | #138 | 21 |
| 2 | Montana | #179 | 21 |
| 3 | North Dakota | #216 | 24 |
| 4 | Idaho | #294 | 31 |
| 5 | Minnesota | #322 | 174 |
| 6 | Oregon | #406 | 65 |
| 7 | Washington | #449 | 158 |
| 8 | Kansas | #498 | 19 |
| 9 | Utah | #498 | 62 |
| 10 | Colorado | #502 | 104 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | #1,092 | 65 |
| 2 | New York | #1,033 | 35 |
| 3 | California | #1,017 | 68 |
| 4 | Tennessee | #869 | 39 |
| 5 | Florida | #862 | 112 |
| 6 | North Carolina | #845 | 58 |
| 7 | Ohio | #803 | 51 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | #786 | 55 |
| 9 | Virginia | #779 | 41 |
| 10 | Indiana | #767 | 43 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Bjorn in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernard | Brave As A Bear | Male | German |
Looking for names like Bjorn?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Bjorn to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Bjorn against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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